A plan to reconfigure units inside the Willow Brook Centre’s new shopping mall has been given the green light by South Gloucestershire planners.

Tesco wanted to alter the layout of some of the shops inside the centre to create 15 smaller units instead of the original ten.

Tesco claims the changed units would “offer greater opportunities for a variety of occupiers, and in meeting the demands expressed to the developer from prospective tenants will ensure that the space is fully occupied.”

The application went on to claim the move “will enhance the diversity and vitality of the area further”.

You can find full details of the changes by looking at the planning area of South Gloucestershire Council’s website.

The Willow Brook Centre is due to open on October 13 at 9am with the list of shops due to open there growing by the week.

Greggs bakery shop is the latest to confirm it will open a shop at the new Willow Brook Centre in Bradley Stoke.

An observant reader of The Bradley Stoke Examiner pointed out that Greggs in Redfield was advertising the upcoming Bradley Stoke shop.

Centre manager Scott Lahive has now confirmed that it will open with the rest of the centre in October.

It will join a new Tesco Extra, Carphone Warehouse, KFC, Reflections, Costa Coffee and Nationwide Building Society.

New pay-at-the-pump facilities have been installed at the Tesco petrol station in Bradley Stoke – but they still do not work.

The new terminals at the pumps, which are similar to those at Tesco in Easton, were installed last week.

But, as queues continue to blight the newly opened station, staff there still do not know when the Pay@Pump will be working.

On Friday evening, queues formed outside the station with, at times, more than four cars waiting at each pump.

Motorists are enduring a frustrating waiting as workers take payment for each transaction rather than drivers being able to pay themselves.

Meanwhile, a new cash machine – previewed by The Bradley Stoke Examiner in July – has been installed at the forecourt.

KFC, Costa Coffee, Nationwide Building Society, hairdressers Reflections and Carphone Warehouse have all confirmed they will open in the Willow Brook Centre.

The shops and facilities will open alongside Tesco Extra, in the centre of Bradley Stoke, in the first phase of the development later this year.

More than half of the new tenants were predicted by The Bradley Stoke Examiner earlier this year [KFC | Costa | Reflections]

The centre’s management added the new shops would open in October and that more tenants would be announced soon.

Willow Brook Centre manager Scott Lahive said: “This centre, anchored by a new large Tesco store, is designed to provide a range of goods and services which have previously been lacking in Bradley Stoke.

“The businesses that we have named today demonstrate that this is truly a town centre, designed to meet the shopping needs of local people.”

In addition, the centre’s new website appears to have launched – with the opening date listed of Monday, October 13 at 9am.

The website says: “The Centre will officially be opened at 9am on Monday 13th by a selection of people from Bradley Stoke who share the same birthday as the Centre.”

Sandwich store Subway is also listed on the Willow Brook Centre website but has yet to be officially confirmed by managers there.

Related links:

• Nationwide Building Society
• Costa Coffee
• Reflections Hairdressing
• KFC
• Carphone Warehouse

What do you think of the first shops that will open at the Willow Brook Centre? Are they what you wanted? What other shops would you like to see there? Click here to add your comments to this story.

Willow Brook Centre manager Scott Lahive has moved to reassure residents that pedestrian access problems to the town centre are only temporary.

Mr Lahive, responding to our story from July over moves to create a crossing while work is carried out, said “there will be a pedestrian route into the centre”.

He went on to say: “This has always been part of the plan. In fact the route to the centre will be easier and much quicker than going with the suggested route that has come about recently.

“There are six pedestrian entre points to the new centre and these footpaths encourage pedestrians from every angle and provide safe and secure walkways.”

Councillor Jon Williams has been arguing for a pedestrian crossing to be installed after road safety fears were raised as a concern at a Safer, Stronger South Gloucestershire meeting.

Cllr Williams had met with town centre management to discuss installing a crossing sooner but this was rejected due to high costs.

Fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken has been confirmed as one of the tenants in the new Willow Brook Centre, we can reveal.

The Bradley Stoke Examiner revealed interest from the firm back in April but we have now received confirmation after the chain applied to South Gloucestershire Council for permission to put up an illuminated sign.

A spokesperson for KFC said the opening would create between 15 and 20 jobs.

Reflections Hairdressing Salon has also confirmed it will be moving into the centre while The Bradley Stoke Journal says Nationwide Building Society and Carphone Warehouse will also be moving in.

Costa Coffee has also expressed an interest in opening a cafe in the centre but have yet to confirm their plans.

A new laptop computer and £100 has been handed over to the local branch of the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease following a competition to name Bradley Stoke’s new town centre.

Pictured (L-R): Town clerk David Chandler, Willow Brook Centre manager Scott Lahive, Georgie Bigg from the NACC, Mayor Robert Jones and Councillor Julian Barge.

An anonymous entrant, who won £50 which was also donated to the NACC, came up with the name of the Willow Brook Centre.

The laptop and a further £50 was donated by supermarket Tesco and the management of the new town centre.

Georgie Bigg from the NACC said the new laptop would be “worth more than the cash value” as it would allow the group, and invited guests at meetings, to show Powerpoint presentations.