THE final plans for the £70m rejuvenation of a derelict site in Southampton city centre are set to go before planners.

City councillors will decide the fate of the plans for the Watermark WestQuay site at a meeting next week.

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As previously reported, developer Hammerson already has planning permission for a massive leisure complex next to the WestQuay Shopping Centre.

The firm, alongside architects ACME, handed in detailed proposals earlier this year fine-tuning some of the design elements of the complex.

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The development is centred on a |luxury ten-screen cinema and a bowling alley.

There will be a row of posh eateries – possibly including national names such as Jamie Oliver’s chain Jamie’s, Mexican chain Wahaca and gourmet burger joints Byron and Five Guys – and bars.

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The leisure elements of the development will tower over a new piazza running alongside the city’s medieval walls and water features designed to ebb and flow like the tide.

Hammerson’s plans, which focus on architectural details, proposed materials and landscaping design will go before the city council’s planning committee at a meeting on Tuesday.

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Bosses at Southampton City Council see the development as an important part of plans to regenerate the city centre, which includes the proposed Royal Pier development.

The committee has been recommended to approve the plans by officers at the meeting.

And if they get the green light the firm says construction could start at the end of the year, with completion likely by the end of 2016.

Daily Echo:

In the meantime, Hammerson is also likely to hand in detailed plans for a second phase of the development.

That would feature a hotel, retail and office space, an underground car park and a residential tower block that could be up to 27 storeys high.

Hammerson says 500 construction jobs could be created by the scheme, along with a further 500 permanent positions when the development opens.