£1bn Bolton town centre transformation to take centre stage at MIPIM

Bolton Council’s £1bn Masterplan to transform the town centre by 2030 will be discussed at MIPIM 2018 at a keynote presentation hosted by TV architect George Clarke.

The respected host of Channel 4 programmes and founder of award-winning architects practice George Clarke + Partners will moderate a panel of experts at the Manchester Pavilion between 4.30pm and 5.15pm on Wednesday, March 14.

Entitled Bolton: Premiership Development – A Level Playing Field, the event at the international property event in Cannes focuses on the council’s plans to regenerate five strategic sites around the town centre including the creation of 1,800 homes as a core element.

Taking questions from George will be:

• Stephen Young, director of place, Bolton Council,

• Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff, former England cricketer and director of Logik Developments,

• Adam Cunnington, managing director, Public Sector plc (PSP),

• Caroline Simpson, corporate director for place, Stockport Council,

• Tom Stannard, director of economy and skills, Oldham Council

• and Mike Horner, regional director, Muse Developments.

At the heart of the wide-ranging debate will be the five core schemes in the Bolton town centre Masterplan:

• Trinity Quarter – a mixed Grade A office and residential development with a new hotel, office block and multi-storey car park. A new pedestrian route through Trinity Quarter, anchored by open space via four interlinked squares;
• Cheadle Square – housing and apartments on the former bus station site including student housing on Queen Street, a mixed-used development to complement cultural venues such as the Octagon, Library and Museum, and a pedestrian route between the Town Hall and Le Mans Crescent with Queens Park;
• Crompton Place – transforming the empty BHS store with an upper floor food court overlooking Victoria Square, possibly expanding the Primark site and a new pedestrian access between Bradshawgate and Hotel Street;
• Church Wharf – a new town centre ‘quarter’ with apartments and town houses, and pedestrian route along the River Croal;
• Croal Valley/Central Street – houses and flats overlooking an improved river frontage with ‘pocket parks’ along the river.

Bolton Council are committed to providing £100m of development funding and the total value of the Masterplan will rise to £1bn as private sector partners are secured.

Redevelopment of the five locations sites will unlock the true potential of the town core, creating the 1,800 mixed-use homes, about 7,400 jobs and economic activity worth an additional £412m to the Bolton economy up to and beyond 2030.

The project sites include a diverse range of housing to meet the property requirements of a wide range of potential occupiers from students and young professionals to couple and young families, thereby creating new communities to breathe new life into the heart of Bolton.

Clarke said: “My time as an architect has included much time spent in the North West of England, and the transformational potential of Bolton Council’s Masterplan represents a key element of the wider regeneration of Greater Manchester at the centre of the Northern Powerhouse.”

Bolton Council’s director of Place Stephen Young added: “With the guidance of George, we look forward to sharing with an international audience our ambitious plans to revitalise Bolton town centre, and also to hearing of the plans and progress being made in Stockport and Oldham.”