Can Bolton learn from Stockport’s transformation?

Around £1bn investment is being pumped into the regeneration of Bolton and its town centre.

But as developments take shape can Bolton learn from the successes of towns such as Stockport that has undergone a mammoth transformation in recent years?

New housing, new Grade A office space, a new shopping centre and the redevelopment of Stockport station, has helped to make it an attractive place to live and work and now businesses are wanting a front row seat.

And according to Tony Jones, CEO of Orbit Developments, which has several sites in Bolton including at Middlebrook, Orlando Bridge and The Valley, there’s plenty to learn from Stockport’s transformation.

Speaking at a recent ‘Regenerating Bolton’s Economy’ event, Jones who led on the formation of Stockport BID (Business Improvement District), an initiative focused solely on improving the experience in the town centre for residents, shoppers, business users and tourists alike, said a similar initiative could boost the work currently taking place in Bolton.

He also called for a stronger collaborative approach between the public and private sector which has helped with the regeneration of other Greater Manchester areas.

“We are a big investor in Bolton, and we’ve been in Middlebrook for many years but more recently we’ve been looking at the town centre as well,” said Jones.

“However, the willingness to invest further has to come from how the town centre looks and feels.

“A few years ago places like Bolton, Stockport and Altrincham were in a similar place. There were challenges due to competition from out-of-town retail and leisure parks, the town centres were not moving forward and the they were struggling to let retail units.

“We know about the stories of various retailers that unfortunately have fallen away over time. And I suppose it is a challenge but it it’s an opportunity to redefine how a town centre could look and that’s what we did in Stockport.

“Seven years ago I joined on the panel for Vision Stockport with like-minded people who were interested in the town centre of Stockport. We set a steering group and we formulated that into a BID proposal and over several years what that’s done is brought the community back together.

“In Stockport people were heading to outlying towns and villages for evenings out and visits to town centre village centres but they wouldn’t come into the centre of Stockport, it didn’t feel too safe and secure.

“And what we wanted to do was overcome that and get people back into the town centre again. And that’s worked really well and that partnership and collaboration with different businesses in Stockport helped drive that vision.

“I think there’s an opportunity in Bolton to get the town centre revitalised again and that approach can help bring investment back in as we’ve seen in Stockport.

“Once it gets that momentum, it’s self-fulfilling because everyone is joined up in attracting new investment into the town centre.”

Jones also noted that Stockport’s Economic Alliance partnership also helped push the town centre transformation.

“We’ve got quite a few businesses on there from RBS to musicMagpie as well as people from the council, and we sit around as a panel looking at the future of the town centre as well as how we can drive employment to get young people through those businesses.

“We talk about how we can inform what the town centre needs to look like and feel like in order to improve it. That Economic Alliance has been going for at least 10 years and that’s also linked in with the BID, so those engagements, and those collaborations work really well and continue to do so.”

Gerry Brough, director of place development at Bolton Council, pointed out there is a Bolton town centre business group with representation from 80 firms.

“They meet regularly to consult on the town centre,” he said.

However, he added while there have been talks of setting up a Bolton BID, the biggest obstacle would be funding allocation and therefore it’s not something that is likely to happen soon.

Commenting on the work that is taking place in the town centre of Bolton, Brough said Bolton Council adopted a £1bn regeneration plan in 2017 –  the biggest in Bolton’s history – which aims to see 1,800 new homes built in the town centre and 7,400 jobs created.

Five strategic sites – Trinity Quarter, Cheadle Square, Crompton Place, Church Wharf and the Croal Valley – were also identified as part of the plan.

While the plans are still in force, he admits the schemes were taking longer than expected to get off the ground.

“From the sites that were identified for regeneration, only two were owned by the council. So, for the last four years I’ve spent my time acquiring sites, getting vacant possession from tenants who occupy those sites, developing schemes for these sites, getting planning consent and so on,” he said.

“That can’t be fast tracked. One example of that is Crompton Place which took nine months to buy at a reasonable price and then we’ve had to negotiate 77 separate vacancy agreements with all the tenants. We’ve now got 75 agreed and that’s taken time.

“In the meantime, it’s not just about the development sites, it is also about bringing people back into the town centre, bringing more homes into the centre and reducing the retail space.

“We also want to bring more better-quality office space into the town centre so we can get people at lunchtime and in the evening using the hospitality and leisure offering which could lead into the night time economy.”

He added: “That’s part of the larger strategy. We have developed nine sites so far to the point where we’ve got planning consent. Four of these sites are about to be built in next few months.

“That will bring back people into the town centre and that will create demand for jobs.

“There’s actually quite a lot going on in the centre of Bolton to change the way people access the centre but when you do that you need to get the brand right, get the product offering right and then we need to promote it when we’re ready.

“I would say that certainly over the next couple of years, you’ll start to see a lot of change in Bolton.”

Asked about levelling-up and what that means for Bolton, Brough said: “This is about creating opportunity for people in my view. However, the reality of it is every area has got different problems that they’re dealing with and the answer to that problem is much more devolution so we can start working at a much more regional strategic level.”

The town centre schemes that will transforming the face of Bolton’s high street

A CGI of the proposed Church Wharf scheme

Church Wharf – Church Wharf is a planned new neighbourhood right in centre of Bolton that everybody will want to be part of. Set alongside the River Croal, the £150m scheme will provide new homes and jobs and transform an underused piece of land into a thriving local community.

Croal Valley – A £35m development by Bolton-based Forshaw Land & Property Group for 258 one and two-bed apartments and four, three-storey town houses at Pool Street and Bark Street. Plus, a £30m development from Manchester-based Placefirst to create Bolton’s first build-to-rent (BtR) urban village around Central Street. Placefirst also proposes up to 15,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and ground floor commercial units along Deansgate, a main thoroughfare in Bolton town centre.

Trinity Quarter – Located next to Bolton’s £48m Transport Interchange, Trinity Quarter is a fast-evolving gateway to the town centre. Providing a mixed use residential and office development.

Crompton Place/Bolton Victoria Square – Beijing Construction Engineering Group International (BCEGI) has partnered with real estate investment and development specialist Midia to form a joint venture called Bolton Regeneration Limited (BRL), to bring forward a circa £175m redevelopment of Crompton Place shopping centre and surrounding area. This site will be redeveloped into a new state of the art retail and leisure destination in the core of town centre’ and civic quarter.

Cheadle Square – Situated within Cultural Quarter, the historic heart of Bolton and is a magnet for visitors thanks to its grand civic architecture and cultural attractions. Cheadle Square will complement the area’s many assets to create a vibrant destination. Set in the centre of the town centre Cheadle Square includes the former Bus Station, and some of Bolton’s architectural gems showcasing Le Mans Crescent, Bolton Town Hall and Bolton Museum.

Blackhorse Street – This is where a super connected ‘digital city’ will be created to place Bolton at the centre of the digital economy. The development will take shape on a 7.3-hectare site around the Blackhorse Street area, adjacent to Bolton’s central railway station, and will be delivered via a joint venture, commercial partnership with a private developer.