Work to clear the site for the future cinema-led leisure development in Yate starts on Monday. Yate Riverside will be anchored by a six-screen Cineworld cinema. Bristol-based contractor ISG will remove trees and shrubbery in the development area, an operation that will take around four weeks.
The main construction work will then start with the retail and restaurant units being handed over to operators at the end of September for fit out and opening scheduled for early December. The cinema will be completed by December and is scheduled to open by Easter 2016. 
Yate Shopping Centre manager Andy Lowrey said: “It has taken us several months to clear the preparatory work involved with the planning permission but people will now notice activity on the site. We will be starting a communications programme this week to ensure all the immediate neighbours, wider community and shoppers are aware of what is happening.
“We have also been working closely with South Gloucestershire Council officers and Natural England to minimise the impact on any wildlife and this process will be on-going throughout development.”
As a consequence of the works, the overflow car park off Link Road will be closed from early March until the end of September. Shopping centre retailers will be assigned 100 special parking spaces in the main car park for their staff so as to ensure the vast majority of spaces are still available for shoppers.
Contractor ISG, based in Stoke Gifford, has a long relationship with Yate Shopping Centre owner Crestbridge, having built the Tesco Extra store and retail units in East Walk.
