Westwood Cross
Westwood Cross is a shopping centre at Westwood in Thanet, Kent. It is near Broadstairs, Margate and Ramsgate. It was built by Carillion and opened in June 2005. Main shopping centre. Westwood Cross main shopping centre consists of an open pedestrianised arcade occupied mostly by High Street shops. The shopping centre consists of 46 store spaces occupying an area of , and there are 1,500 parking spaces. There are two anchor stores, Debenhams and Marks and Spencer. In October 2007 an entertainment development opened on a site to the southwest of Westwood Cross. This development comprises four restaurants, a  Vue multiplex cinema (opened in November 2007), a casino (opened March 2008), and Mecca bingo hall (opened February 2008). Phase Two of Westwood Cross was completed in April 2010, following the relocation of the Wickes store, which formerly stood beside the bus station. This addition to the centre includes several new retail units and space for up to three restaurants along with extra parking. As of April 2010 only two of the new units have been leased and the others stand empty. Neighbouring developments include East Kent Retail Park (Matalan, Staples, Harveys Furniture, and Pets at Home) and Westwood Gateway  Retail Park (Argos, Paul Simon, Homebase, Maplin Electronics and Sports World). Both sites are owned by Hammerson. Opposite the development is a Lok'nStore building. As of 2005 the centre created 1,500 jobs in the Broadstairs area. Westwood Cross is situated on the former Haine Hospital site, which closed in June 1997 and was demolished in 2003. Stores. Below are just a few of the many stores, For a full updated list visit the Store Finder As of January 2014 ; Boots, Debenhams, GAME, HMV, JD Sports, JJB Sports, Marks and Spencer, Mothercare, Poundworld, Primark, TK Maxx, Waterstones, WHSmith, Wilko Transport connections . On the eastern side of the centre is a bus station, on Margate Road served by Stagecoach in East Kent. In particular Stagecoach in East Kent's Thanet Loop passes through the centre. The nearest train station is located 1.7 miles away at Ramsgate. The next nearest town centre is Broadstairs (whose boundaries include Westwood Cross), although this is a small town centre with few major shops. New developments. In 2007, J Sainsbury PLC announced a partnership with Land Securities which included their site next to Westwood Cross which is also owned by Land Securities. Criticism and controversy. The Kent  County Council's decision to allow the development of a leisure complex including multiplex cinema, restaurant, bingo hall and casino was controversial. It was eventually approved by the House of Lords. In 2008, there was criticism from church leaders over the opening of a casino at the centre. The established High Streets in Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate were badly affected, with Margate by 2009 reporting the UK's highest shop vacancy rate, running at 25 per cent. By 2011 this had increased to 36.1 per cent.