£60m development is shelved

The apartment and entertainment complex, which was set to be created near the town's Sainsbury's supermarket, has been called off by property tycoon Fred Pritchard.

He has blamed the Environment Agency for putting a "string of obstacles" in his path due to concerns over flooding from the nearby River Sow.

Mr Pritchard said that, with the economic slump, he cannot justify putting any more time or money into convincing the environmental watchdog to accept the plans. He said: "We can't do it because the Environment Agency says the site floods and it's a flood plain.

"But what we're saying is that you can build on flood plains – in Dubai they build on the world's biggest flood plain. It's called the sea.

"We're engineers – if there's a problem, we'll solve it but they've thrown a string of obstacles in our way and you get to the stage where you feel like: 'Is it really worth us carrying on?'

"At the moment we're not moving forward on it certainly and we're not putting any more money for research and development into it."

Mr Pritchard said he would have gone ahead with Castle Wharf, between Chell Road and Doxey, if the Environment Agency had not objected, despite the recession. He said: "I'm putting this one down to the Environment Agency but the collapse of the economy hasn't helped. Look at what we've lost."

The Castle Wharf development was set to include an ice rink, a bowling alley and bingo hall, along with residential apartments.

Another of the Cannock-based developer's projects, on the site of the former St George's psychiatric hospital, is also likely to be scaled back in a further sign of the economic slump impacting on Stafford's town centre expansion plans.

Mr Pritchard said the St George's Park scheme, at the site of the old hospital on Corporation Street, is likely to include a smaller residential provision. However, he said his firm Pritchard Holdings was planning to start work on student accommodation, which forms part of the scheme along with a hotel and offices, later this year. "The work is moving but things are slow," Mr Pritchard said.

The news comes after the Express & Star last month revealed that the £100 million redevelopment of the former Riverside Recreation Centre is now officially on hold. The company behind the plans, Trent City Securities, has blamed the economic downturn for the move and said it will be years before the plans for a new retail and leisure complex on each side of the River Sow will come to fruition.