Halswell Supermarket shops

A lot of people have been wondering what is happening with the Halswell shops/ supermarket area.  To find out, I rang Foodstuffs, the owners of the facility.   I was told that although the buildings are quite safe at present, in fact it has been decided (I'm not sure by whom!) that the buildings will come down and be rebuilt rather than being fixed.  

At this stage Foodstuffs are in the process of trying to get a consent from the CCC.  Once they have this they will be moving into designing and rebuilding the shops.  This will be done in such a way that the current tenants will have premises over the rebuild period and be able to keep trading.    

Foodstuffs are uncertain how long everything is going to take and when the demolition and rebuild will begin, because they are uncertain how long the consent processes will take.  In the meantime, they were keen to reiterate that the shops as they are at the moment are safe for all who enter them and work in them!