The growth of online retail has seen empty units mount in our town centres. And pulling people back is at the heart of a Wigan Council regeneration plan that wants to make its high streets a ‘destination’.
Members of the Confident Places Scrutiny Committee gathered in the town hall to hear of plans for Wigan, Leigh and Ashton-on-Makerfield.
Releasing unused council assets, securing funding pots and establishing a 'joined-up vision' for centres is how the council are looking to make a difference across the borough of Wigan, the March 22 meeting heard. Although the strategic focus currently resides with the three largest towns in the area, plans for others will follow, Melanie Lamb, service manager for regeneration, told the committee.
Here, the Local Democracy Reporting Service looks at the details.
Wigan
The council’s signature project, currently underway, is the redevelopment of The Galleries. The £135 million project comprises a six screen, 700 seat cinema, multi-lane bowling alley, indoor mini golf, a climbing wall and a wide range of other indoor leisure activities.
Plans for the multimedia centre were given the green light at the beginning of March and there is hope the new market hall, the first section to be built, could be completed by late 2024. Construction will only start once demolition of the old site is finished - which is set to conclude by the end of 2023.
Wigan Pier, once a bustling scene for nightlife, has become derelict and an eyesore - however the project to turn this area into a wedding venue, gin distillery, microbrewery and food hall with eight townhouses is now underway.
The multi-million pound rejuvenation project was delayed by the Covid pandemic as well as rising costs due to inflation, the developer Step Places explained.
Just down the road from the pier is Eckersley Mill, formerly the heart of the spinning industry in the town centre, which will soon feature a series of individual stalls and a bar on the ground floor with an outdoor terrace that can host around 350 people. Likened to the Baltic Market in Liverpool and Mackie Mayor in Manchester by developers Heaton Group, it's estimated this new food hall will be 22,000 sq ft in size.
This development is running alongside the rejuvenation of Wigan Pier where work began in February 2023.
In 2020, the council also secured £1.27 million of High Street Heritage Action Zone funding from Historic England for King Street - the main hub for nightlife in the town.
The funding has enabled works to make the fabric of the Royal Court Theatre (Grade II listed) weatherproof – this has saved the building from severe deterioration and put the future of it on a more sustainable footing, the council says.
Safety marshalls brought in to monitor behaviour on King Street on Friday and Saturday nights followed Purple Flag status accreditation being awarded to the centre last year. The marshalls were applauded by Coun Lawrence Hunt at previous scrutiny committee meetings, who said he believed they made the area “no longer Dodge City”.
At the meeting on March 22, he said he no longer has the worry of “getting your head kicked in” when he comes to the centre.
Leigh
There have been plans revive Bradshawgate, the main strip through the town’s centre, which has suffered the same fate as many other old north western market towns, with vacant units and reports of anti-social behaviour.
Although huge funding pots have brought big changes to the area with a guided busway and the Leigh Sports Village complex now in full flight - the centre has lagged behind.
A £11.4 million bid for Levelling Up funding was sought to spruce up the town’s Civic Square and walkways with nature trails and social hubs. Both leader and deputy leader of the council Coun Dave Molyneux and Coun Keith Cunliffe have expressed their disappointment that this would not come to fruition after the disappointing news that the scheme had failed to secure the cash back in January.
The project included plans for shop front improvements to replace ‘tired areas’ of the town centre and an overhaul of Leigh’s market hall.
However, Coun Molyneux has stated that they would prepare a new bid for Leigh town centre in the next round of Levelling Up funding.
There was controversy over the last bid, with the council and Leigh’s Tory MP James Grundy butting heads over what the plan needed. This ended with Conservative Mr Grundy not giving his seal of approval for the plan submitted by the Labour controlled council.
The MP, who led the campaign to turn Leigh blue for the first time in electoral history, simply stated the plans were ‘inadequate’. He has called for the next round of bidding for the Levelling Up Fund to be at least £20 million.
Ashton-in-Makerfield
After being hit with disappointment in January over their Levelling Up bid, Ashton received a huge cash boost in the Spring Budget to the value of £6.6 million. The #OurFutureAshton includes improved shop fronts, upgraded streets and public spaces, new walking and cycling routes and a refresh for the town’s market square.
Additionally, the plan includes the introduction of greenery and lights along Garswood Street and Gerard Street. Other improvements include infrastructure upgrades to Old Road and Wigan Road which aim to reduce traffic movements in the residential area through a series of active neighbourhood measures, crossing facility upgrades and connection improvements.
Coun Danny Fletcher, speaking after the positive news for his ward, said: “I am extremely pleased to hear the news that Ashton's levelling up bid has been approved by the government. Although without constant pressure from me, Wigan council and MP Yvonne Fovargue, this outcome would likely have not been possible.
“Ashton in Makerfield will now receive nearly £7m in funding to improve the town centre, funding which has been long overdue. Our town will continue to punch above its weight and work towards being the most prosperous and vibrant town centre in the area.
“Now we need to get to work to implement the proposed improvements, and as a lifelong Ashton resident and councillor, I’m excited with what the future holds.”
Wigan’s smaller towns
Although Atherton, Tyldesley and Standish were mentioned by the scrutiny committee members, they are currently not the centre of attention for the regeneration plans. However, that does not mean they will be overlooked for further funding opportunities when they come in future, the committee was told.
An example provided to the town hall chamber was when Tyldesley CIC were successful in their bid for £1.35 million from Historic England. They will be delivering a range of physical projects and cultural activities to regenerate the town centre. A shopfront scheme has transformed numerous shopfronts and vacant buildings including Franks Chippy (Elliot Street), Cellar 5 and Marklands Building in Tyldesley, the committee heard.
Coin Barry Taylor, chairing the meeting in the absence of Coun John O’Brien, said: “I’ve seen what a bit of money can do to the town of Tyldesley. The change it has made to the town is unbelievable.”
Access and transport
Although the overall plan was accepted by councillors, Coun George Davies questioned whether parking capacity could cope with people being lured back into Wigan town centre. In response, he was told that the capacity of car parking currently is at 50 per cent.
Going into further detail, David Proctor, Wigan's assistant director for planning and regeneration, said: “There was work done looking at car parking access and the level of usage. There is an element of car parking management, but whilst we want lots of people and footfall, we don’t want to insist they come by car.
“We want to make it as easy for people to walk in, come by bike or public transport. Making it as easy as possible to get into the town centre without having to drive is an important part of our plan.”
Weighing in, Coun Phylis Cullen said: “I understand about emissions but unless you have reliable public transport in place you will never get people out of their cars. I would like this in place, the sooner the better.”
Responding to this point, the Bee Network - GM’s developing transport vision - was referenced as key to getting bus services under control. With Wigan in the first wave of franchising come September, Mr Proctor explained this is a big step towards getting fare prices, timetables and reliability back under the control of the local authority.
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