If you haven’t heard, in March, Mace, speaking now on behalf of them and Doric, have promised to withdraw their appeal against the planning refusal the Vale handed down in December. (I haven’t seen anything that tells me they’ve actually DONE this yet, but they have publicly said that they will.)

Mace have taken over as the public face of the plan to purchase West Way Shopping Centre and revitalise it. They have promised to leave unmolested Elms Parade, the Vicarage, and Field House. Of course, the landowners of each of these properties is free to make their best deal with any developer, but now Mace assure us that there will be no seeking of Compulsory Purchase Orders.

But Mace want to submit another planning application, one that will redevelop the West Way sites 1 and site 2 only, and to work closely with the community to find a solution that meets everyone’s needs. In order to do that, Matthew Barber has to agree to extend the contract dates. As it stood in the orignal contracts, once planning permission was refused, and there was no appeal or the appeal failed, that was the end of the deal.

I was seated at the table next to Chris Church, one of the co-chairs of West Way Community Concern, as we listened to Matthew Barber tell us this nearly incredible news. We looked at each other, and whispered, ” We won!”