March town centre redevelopment update

The toilets, near to the Broad Street junction with Grays Lane, could not be opened before demolition started due to an unforeseeable issue with a collapsed sewer.

The sewer has now been repaired but final connection works on the toilets cannot be done until demolition of the old Barclays building is complete. Construction safety rules mean two sets of contractors cannot be working on the two projects at the same time due to their proximity.

Grays Lane is expected to remain closed until both projects are complete.

Fenland District Council's Cllr Chris Seaton, lead member of the March Future High Streets steering group, said: "It's frustrating and unfortunate that the toilet opening date has had to be put back again. We're doing all we can to ensure the former Barclays building demolition and toilet opening can be complete as soon as possible. We understand this will be disappointing and ask everyone to bear with us. Our residents told us it was important to have a toilet block built into the regeneration works and we listened. We're making every effort to ensure everyone can fully benefit soon from the whole transformative regeneration project and a reinvigorated March town centre for many years to come."

Fenland District Council bought the Barclays Bank building, in Broad Street, with Government Future High Street Fund funding to prevent it remaining empty and being a long-standing eyesore. It had failed to sell to a private investor when marketed in 2016.

Demolition got under way at the end of November. The site is now being marketed for sale with a purchase requirement of timely submission of plans and start of works on a new development.

The district council felt a developer would not viably be able to use the site in its previous form or cover the cost of demolition

The decision was made to bear, from Government funding, some of the cost of creating a development-ready site and re-coup some of that investment by selling the site once demolition is complete.

The purchase of the site also reduced costs of redevelopment work in March town centre as the site was used as a base for the construction team which would otherwise have created significant logistical issues, potential delays and further costs.

The demolition has been slowed by an unforeseeable issue with the party wall which was identified as complex and has had to be judged and assessed on an ongoing basis as work progressed.

The new toilet block, retaining characterful features of the old block, provides a male, female and disabled facility which will be accessed with contactless card payment of 20p.

The old toilet block was removed to allow the riverside to be opened up and enhanced, complementing the new Broad Street layout.

The toilets are being funded jointly by Fenland District Council and with funding from the £8.4million March Future High Streets investment programme, funded by the Government's Future High Streets Fund (£6.4million) and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Market Town's Fund (£2million). March Future High Streets investment came alongside transformational road layout changes to Broad Street delivered by Cambridgeshire County Council.

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January 2026