3 weeks Ago
The council's search to find a partner to kickstart the development of a major site in Bolton town centre remains ongoing. Plans for Crompton Place Shopping Centre was discussed in detail at the council's place scrutiny committee on Wednesday, April 9. The centre closed its doors for the last time on Saturday, March 1.
Under plans subject to planning permission , the council says demolition work would take 50 weeks and be completed in a single phase. Proposed "meanwhile uses" for the site during this time include green spaces, an urban garden, active travel and a play area. Speaking at the meeting, assistant director of development and regeneration at the council, Paul Whittington, said: “Developer procurement exercise has started and the aim there is to ensure that, as we’re demolishing, we’re seeking to secure a developer.
“This is so that we can start work as early as possible, and think about what’s going to happen in the future to begin, preparing planning applications and engagement with the public.” READ MORE: Crompton Place to close its doors for last time today Bolton Civic Trust's concern over Crompton Place demolition Crompton Place to close its doors for last time today Concerns about why the council has chosen to demolish the shopping centre were also addressed. Mr Whittington added: “A question that could come up is why demolish at all? Why not refurbish or do something different with Crompton Place? “It's always been the council’s ambition to get a level and significance of development in that location.
"We’ve done a lot of work with investment partners to identify if we can keep the basement car parks, the foundations in place. “The simple answer is 'no', there are clear examples where reliance on historic foundations means investors won’t necessarily invest and banks won’t necessarily lend the money. “The decision is to break out the basement and break out the foundations so that we are de-risking the whole development as much as possible so that a future developer can come in and start piling and developing the site at the earliest possible point.
" The decision to purchase and demolish the shopping centre, which was built in 1971, was made by the council last year with the aim to achieve vacant possession status to redevelop the site. Plans also include the reintroduction of a direct pedestrian route between Victoria Square and Bradshawgate. Yet concerns were raised by councillors about the length of time the redevelopment project is projected to take.
Cllr Nadim Muslim said: “I’m conscious we’ll get to the stage where we demolish this and we’re left waiting five, six, seven or even eight years before something materialises. “Meanwhile use- at what point does this become permanent and what stage do we actually get it off the ground? “If you think about Elizabeth Park, it took years to get to a point where people would go and use that. I’m conscious that time is going to keep slipping.
” Property firm CBRE is helping the council to find a development partner. CBRE executive director Adam White said: “We’ve done some soft market testing. "A big office-led scheme, is unlikely to be delivered here unless the public sector intervenes and supports it financially.
“The council wants to stay true to that mix-use vision, we’ve tested the flexibility in this masterplan so that we can change tactics in this masterplan. “We think this scheme will be more residential -led, still mixed-use, but a high degree of affordable and built to rents with some private sales residential. “The council’s preference is to see offices, we have an insurance policy those plots could resort to residential if they need to in the future.
“The market is watching, it’s listening and it’s getting quite excited about Bolton. “Viability is not guaranteed, the focus is on quality and the fantastic assets here in Bolton. "We’re confident that there will be developer interest and in due course, investor interest in a residential-led scheme here.
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