BUILDING  work  is  to begin next  Monday on the first phase of a £10m scheme to add a new leisure complex to the existing Harvey Shopping Centre. The work on phase one will concentrate on the first-floor of the centre, where a number of units have been left vacant awaiting the builders.

Further plans include the opening of a multi-screen cinema and up to six new restaurants. The re-development is expected to be finished by Spring 2014.

Deputy leader of Harlow Council, Councillor Rod Truan, welcomed the news that building work is to begin. He said: “This is brilliant news and is a real vote of confidence in the future of Harlow”.

All the shops in the Harvey Centre will stay open throughout the building work. The existing public toilets will still be accessible and additional toilets will be located elsewhere on the upper floor. Direct access to the car park will be via the ground floor only but all other entrances will remain open.

Harvey Centre manager Bryan Young says the leisure market is the one which is growing the fastest. He said: “This investment has come at just the right time and it’s really exciting for the people of Harlow and the surrounding towns. “We have spaces for 726 cars, a taxi rank at one entrance and the bus station, operating 24 hours a day, at another so the proposed leisure complex will be very accessible.“