REFRESHED plans for Vineyard Gate in Colchester are set to be developed, if a bid to secure £1 million from the Government is successful.

The We Are Colchester partnership is looking to secure the money as part of its Town Deal bid and hopes to secure another £14 million for the area.

The £1million would be used to refresh plans for the long-awaited redevelopment, which has been mooted for more than 15 years.

David King, Colchester Council’s business boss, said the area needed to be re-examined in light of the retail environment and coronavirus.

“Different schemes have come and gone but it is an area ripe for regeneration,” he said.

“But what we do has to be done in context, which is changing all the time.

"Most people agree what we are seeing at the moment is five or ten years worth of change within a year.

“It is looking like retail will have less prominence in town centres so I suspect what we will see will be a more eclectic scheme to improve the public realm of the town.

“The town deal will allow us to do the work to find out what the best plan for the area is.”