PLANS to revitalise a run-down area of Bishop Auckland with a multi-million pound superstore are edging forward.
Asda wants to build a £15m supermarket, which should revitalise the south of the town, replacing its Newgate precinct store.
Plans for the store, on the site of Wilson's Forge, near South Church Road, are nearing their final stages after first being approved by Wear Valley District Council in June 1998.
No timescale for completing the store will be set until developers hear whether Environment Secretary John Prescott will agree to their plans to revitalise the present Asda site, the outdated Newgate Centre.
Asda has pledged to spend £2m on revamping the shopping precinct.
Assistant director of planning David Townsend said if the precinct was not redeveloped now, the next buyer would not be obliged to refurbish the site.
A spokeswoman for Asda said the secretary of state still had to approve an agreement covering the development plan.
She said: "The agreement covers all sorts of things, one of which will be the refurbishment of the Newgate Centre."
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