The unveiling of the famous retailer, which will be located on Exchange Street and contain three storeys of shop space, is seen by Aylesbury Vale District Council and developer Warner Estate as the catalyst for bringing on board big High Street names into the scheme.

In another development, it has been revealed that the most controversial aspect of the Waterside plans, the location of the supermarket, has been altered.

It now looks certain that the store, together with the multi-storey car park, will move on to the other side of the Bearbrook and away from Exchange Street and residents in Highbridge Walk.

Dan Howson, senior development manager at Warner Estate, said bringing Debenhams into the scheme meant they had achieved one of their major objectives. "We are delighted we have achieved this milestone," he said.

"Debenhams was our first-choice department store for the heart of the project. It is a highly desirable brand and their commitment to Aylesbury is a tremendous endorsement of both the town and the Waterside project."

He added that securing the name of the food retail store was the next objective. "We continue our negotiations in that. Now we have got our anchor store in place other tenants will want to come in, it is really a springboard for the marketing campaign which will be going on until we open."

However, Mr Howson admitted that the opening of Waterside Shopping was likely to be delayed until 2011. "It is still early days but it may have slipped in to 2011. If it is not the back end of 2010 it will be the front end of 2011," he said.

Cllr John Cartwright, leader of Aylesbury Vale District Council, told The Bucks Herald that it was very likely that the supermarket, which was originally planned to sit directly on the south side of Exchange Street, would be moved backwards on to the south side of the Bearbrook.
The supermarket was criticised for creating a canyon effect along Exchange Street due to it being located directly opposite the department store.

Cllr Cartwright said: "When we went to public consultation lots of members of the public criticised that element and I think quite rightly they said it would create a tunnel effect. We didn't favour it either because the new theatre is an iconic building which deserved the maximum viewing space."

He added that he would like to see the area freed up by the supermarket turned into a piazza.

Linda Candlish, spokesperson for the Highbridge Walk and Brookside Terrace Residents Action Group, which was opposed to the location of the supermarket, said she was pleased that the council had listened to their concerns, but would not be satisfied until she had seen the revised plans.

However, Roger King, honorary secretary of The Aylesbury Society, said the revision simply moved the problem somewhere else, and would compromise the residential scheme originally proposed for that area.

Are you pleased Debenhams will be opening a store in Aylesbury?

To comment on this or any other Bucks Herald story, click here

To post comments directly on this website, click on the Comment on this Story link below