A six-screen, 700 seat cinema; a hotel; hundreds of new homes; a bowling alley; a food hall; restaurants and bars will be built in Wigan as part of a huge town centre redevelopment.
The 'multi-media centre' will boast a range of indoor leisure activities. It will be in the former Galleries shopping centre off Market Street.
An initial planning application was approved in 2021. The proposals for the £135m project have now been rubber stamped. Outdoor mini golf, a karaoke space, a zipline and a climbing wall will also be built.
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The plans will see 483 new homes and a 144-bedroom hotel constructed. It's a plan dreamt up by the council and Cityheart.
They want to make the town centre a more attractive and a 'vibrant place to live, work and play'. Planning committee councillors gave the plans a unanimous thumbs-up.
Coun Laura Flynn said she hoped it meant Wiganers will not have to venture to Manchester or Liverpool for a fun night out.
“The level of detail shows the exciting prospect of what we can have in Wigan town centre,” she said. “I am personally excited about the karaoke room and zipwire.
“This is going to achieve the ambition of making Wigan a night out destination.”
Following the recent closure annoucement of Empire cinema, the development will bring back nights out to the pictures.
The Galleries is still being demolished. A concrete timeframe for completion of the development has not been set out.
Warren Taylor, development director at Cityheart said: “The MMC is a key element of the wider Galleries redevelopment scheme and is central to the realisation of our vision to create a thriving mixed-use, town centre neighbourhood where people can spend time relaxing with family and friends.
“The MMC will help boost the local economy by drawing people into the town centre from across the region and will attract people of all ages who want to live in the town centre. Providing great leisure facilities will in turn help us secure the best operators and food and drink brands and we look forward to starting to announce some of those additional tenants later this year.
“Alongside the new market hall and food courts people will be able to spend their leisure time at the MMC watching the latest films and enjoying bowling, climbing, gaming and eating and drinking in a range of new bars and restaurants and we’re excited to achieve the next stage of delivering this transformational scheme for Wigan.”
Coun David Molyneux MBE, leader of Wigan council said: “This is another really exciting milestone in the redevelopment of the Galleries. The demolition works are well underway, and this planning permission sets out what we are planning to build, delivering an exciting and vibrant redevelopment in the heart of our town centre.
“This approval today sets out how this redevelopment will look and feel, bringing this inspiring future for our town centre to life. With plans for a cinema, bowling alley, mini golf, climbing wall and lots more, we are taking proactive steps to bring new life and opportunities to our town, attracting investment, and ensuring it is a thriving and vibrant place for people to choose to live, work, study and visit.”
