LEISURE facilities on the Anchor Street site in Bishops Stortford are set to be up and running by the Millennium, say council chiefs.

On Thursday, David Beales, East Herts District Councils director of planning and property, announced that 18 companies had submitted plans to develop the site a larger response than expected.

And he anticipated that councillors, who started sifting through the mixed bag of proposals last Wednesday, would select the best scheme by the end of July.

Mr Beales said: There is now a realistic expectation that these long- awaited facilities can be built in Anchor Street and will be opened for business within 18 months, that is by the end of 1999.

The wheels are back in motion for the leisure development after plans came to a grinding halt in February.

Council bosses pulled the plug on the scheme after contractor Bishops Stortford Leisure and Entertainment failed to begin building work more than a year and a half after the ambitious £5m deal was struck.

The hitch sparked anger from residents who had been looking forward to the bowling alley and cinema complex.

But Bishops Stortford Mayor Andy Graham says councillors are determined to do as much as they can to prevent the same thing from happening again.

He said: All of us were pleasantly surprised with the response and very optimistic. Its a much better situation than we were in last time around when we only had one option.

The market has changed since then and is now more buoyant, which makes an incredible difference as developers are looking for more exciting schemes.

Cllr Graham is a member of the Anchor Street Working Party, a group of 13 councillors appointed to select the developer and scheme. He is also a member of a focus group which has been assessing the finer details of the plans.

The recently-elected mayor said members of the working parties will be meeting frequently over the next seven weeks to sift through the plans with the help of consultants.

He said: We will be making an announcement on the chosen developer when we are really satisfied that every i has been dotted. I will be up until midnight if necessary to make sure we do not falter.

He added: Lets ring in the changes for the year 2000, with a scheme we have all been waiting for.

As plans are still in the preliminary assessment stages, Cllr Graham said it was too early to discuss the types of schemes proposed, but he promised it would be a leisure scheme for all the family.

The Bishops Stortford councillors who will be making the final leisure centre recommendations are Bernard Engel, Ralph Gilbert, Mione Goldspink, Andy Graham, Bob Parker, Duncan Peak, and Terry Coldwell

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