Rochdale Development Agency sets out investment plan
on 15th anniversary
Rochdale Development Agency outlined an impressive package of investment
which is creating new business opportunities and supporting the local economy,
at its annual conference today.
Marking its 15th year, the Agency also paid tribute to all the hard work
and commitment that has helped to make a reality of long-term initiatives
including Kingsway Business Park and the Housing Market Renewal programme.
The conference at Bella Vista restaurant in Milnrow, Rochdale, was chaired
by Colin Sinclair, Chief Executive of MIDAS - Manchester’s Investment
and Development Agency, who said a package of investment was in place to
start delivering dramatic results including:
- £9 million worth of infrastructure development due to be completed
at Kingsway Business Park this year and the first two businesses - Vindon
Scientific and Takeuchi now on site.
- The site for a new town centre transport
interchange cleared with programme entry status for £11 million DfT
funding. The design team will be appointed this year with completion scheduled
for 2011.
- A £60 million municipal riverside development to provide 300,000sq
ft of office accommodation for 2,600 Council, NHS and private sector staff
along with a new town centre library, training and conference facilities.
Restaurants and bars will front a new riverside walkway with completion
scheduled for the end of 2011.
- The approval of Metrolink into Rochdale train station now in place with
the TIF bid for Rochdale town centre gaining programme entry status for
Department for Transport funding.
- An OJEU notice to secure a developer will be placed at the turn of the
year to deliver a new shopping district on the site of the existing municipal
offices and bus station – (these will be demolished once the new
interchange and municipal offices are complete in 2011).
- £100 million funding from the Learning and Skills Council to improve
facilities including the redevelopment of Hopwood Hall College’s
town centre and Middleton campuses and a brand new sixth form college in
the town centre.
- Five new Primary Care Trust one-stop-shop health centres being
built and a replacement clinic has already opened for business, totalling
an £80 million investment.
- Nearly £13 million being invested in areas of Rochdale in 2008 and
2009 to improve the choice of housing through the Government’s Housing
Market Renewal programme with 54 larger modern homes at one of the first
developments - Nelson Place, Wardleworth - due for completion this autumn.
An audience of 100 investors, developers, businesses and partners attended
the conference to hear a lively update on opportunities in the borough.
Rochdale Development Agency is working hard in today’s difficult economic
climate to make sure the borough remains a priority not only within the region
but as a destination where national and international businesses can grow
and develop.
John Hudson, who has been Chief Executive of Rochdale Development Agency
since its launch in 1993 said: “Over the last 15 years seedling ideas
that to many seemed an impossibility such as Kingsway Business Park, have
not only sprouted but are beginning to flourish.
“A huge amount of work and tough negotiation went into securing the £75
million of public and private investment to make the vision for a business
park half the size of Manchester city centre a reality. A total of £350
million will be invested over its developing lifetime and we are now at the
stage where we are working hard to attract high value businesses, which will
create thousands of jobs and support our local economy over the next 10 to
15 years.
“For those of us who have lived and breathed it for the last 15 years,
the regeneration of our borough is at an extremely exciting time; we are
turning corners and starting to see those ideas and artists illustrations
become a physical reality. Regeneration is complex, takes time and is not
easy; but in Rochdale the efforts of a whole range of partners and organisations
are starting to make a difference.”
Colin Sinclair said: "Significant public and private sector investment
is being injected into Rochdale, ranging from business accommodation to health,
education and transport.
“Today’s event demonstrated just how hard our counterparts at
Rochdale Development Agency are working, in toughening market conditions,
to ensure that the Borough remains a strategic priority within the city region.
Working together, public and private sector, we can best succeed in establishing
Rochdale as a location of choice for regional, national and international
businesses."
Contact for further information:
For further information contact Gayle Nicol, IPB Communications, tel 0161
976 1414, 07786966016 email gayle.nicol@ipbcommunications.co.uk or Claire
Lane, IPB Communications Claire.lane@ipbcommunications.co.uk |
