A LONG-AWAITED £14 million shopping centre will not see the light of day for at least 18 months, it has been confirmed The Braintree bus park development – a bus station, 60-room hotel, multi-storey car park and shops planned for Manor Street – is meant to be the centrepiece of town centre regeneration plans.

But Braintree Council has yet to complete a formal agreement on the plans with developer Henry Boot – ten months after choosing the company over another developer.

A planning application was due to be submitted last summer, but the council has now said this may not happen for as much as 18 months.

He stressed, however, the agreement was due to be signed next week.

He added: “This is the important thing. They have confidence Braintree is a good place to invest.

“I remain convinced we need to regenerate the whole of the town centre of Braintree and this part of the development shows a vote of confidence by developers in the town. Personally, I would have liked it built by now, but I recognise there are things which have to be done, such as going through the formal planning procedures.”

However, some people in the town insist Braintree does not need a new shopping centre.

Stop Campaign members think the plans for Manor Street could threaten existing town centre businesses.

They also argue the proposals would be out of keeping with other buildings in the town centre conservation area.

Stop chairman Sue Parsons said the council’s decision to spend £10,000 on s tickers covering empty shop windows, so the shops appeared to be occupied underlined the fact tenants couldn’t be found for the existing shops, without building new ones.

She added: “Can the council still say with confidence it believes this is the right thing for the future of Braintree and it really sees it working?

“I think most people, if you ask them now, would say: ‘What? We are putting vinyls on shop windows and they want to put more shops in the town? Don’t be daft’.”

The Stop Campaign has collected more than 4,000 signatures against the redevelopment and is concerned the final proposals could differ to what was agreed last summer in order to ensure it is financially viable.