A REVAMP of Abingdon’s Fairacres Retail Park costing £6m has been redesigned for a future without Homebase.

Mays Properties Ltd, which owns the park, amended its plans after the DIY company announced it was to close more than 80 UK outlets in October.

Although the chain has not specifically said it would close its Abingdon store, Mays said it wanted to be prepared for the worst when the lease comes up for renewal in December 2017.

The new plan is an amended version of a planning application, which Mays submitted last year, that was to redevelop the Eastern side of the park with new units for Vineys, AHF and Topps Tiles around a new 25,000sq ft Homebase.

Vale of White Horse District Council gave that scheme planning permission in February, but now Mays has submitted a new application with seven equally-sized 1,300sqm stores – but no Homebase.

Mays director Richard May said the new plan reflected the way the nation’s shopping habits were changing.

He said: “There has been a contraction of the DIY market which we don’t think will affect Fairacres, and the discussions we have had with Homebase so far suggest Abingdon is a very good market for them, but this is a back-up for us.

“If it comes to December 2017 and Homebase said ‘we have to let it go’ then it’s not a complete disaster for us.

“This application isn’t an indication of our view of the way things are going, it is purely a reaction to the national picture.

“There are new entrants in the DIY market which aren’t DIY specialists but sell DIY products, such as B&M Bargains.

“But the other thing is that younger people are not as practical as the generation before them.”

He said Homebase was mainly closing its largest sites – sometimes up to 90,000sq ft – because shops that large were no longer viable.

He said: “That really big format for stores has become bad news, which is why we are quite keen to get Homebase into a small site, like 25,000sq ft.

“Retailing has changed so much over the last 20 years – when Woolworths went, for example, we never saw that was going to happen, and the same with Jessops, Blockbuster, MFI – you just never know what’s around the corner.

“It could be Homebase starts massively expanding, we don’t know – this planning application is all about having that flexibility.”

Mr May said he would like to attract more furniture stores into Fairacres.

“There are now a lot of very good furniture retailers who entered the market in the last 10 years like Oak Furniture Land, Sofa Works and Furniture Barn.”

Fairacres, which was largely built in the 1970s, now attracts an average of 2,000 visitors a day.

The current revamp would be the first time that the warehouses on the eastern side of the park have been demolished and rebuilt.

Mr May said one of the biggest changes in the new warehouses would be “massively” more energy- efficient than the current buildings to fit with latest government rules.

The council is due to make a final decision on the application by August 5.

Homebase spokesman Lou Hedges said: “Homebase is committed to the Abingdon area and we can confirm there are no plans to close the store on Fairacres Retail Park.

“We are currently in discussion with the landlord about the renovation plans for the site.”