Park Place, Croydon's £500-million shopping development has been given the green light, after the Government Office for London (GoL) removed the final planning hurdle last week.

In a letter to the developer, Minerva Plc, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, as secretary of state for GoL, confirmed they would not be calling the application in for review, leaving the way clear for developers to start work.

One of the UK's largest town centre shopping schemes, Park Place is a one million square foot development including 103 shops, 13 large stores, 17 restaurants and a flagship Allders department store opening onto a new town square.

Chief Executive of Minerva, Andrew Rosenfeld, said: "We welcome the decision by the Government to effectively approve the development of Park Place.

"It will be one of London's largest urban regeneration projects and will elevate Croydon to one of the top retail destinations in the UK."

GoL's decision comes almost three years after Croydon Council first granted planning permission in August 2000, and eases fears that further delays would jeopardise Nestl UK's plans to expand their UK headquarters and bring an additional 400 employees into Croydon.

A Nestl spokesperson said the company is "extremely pleased" with the Government's decision.

The scheme will also include an overhaul of the Queen's Gardens, revised traffic layout at Fairfield and a bus interchange as part of a unique £6-million public transport initiative known as "intoCroydon".

Minerva have started preparations for the next phase of development and hope to start work next year.

April 30, 2003 12:30