Rochdale town centre is soon to be the focus of major regeneration with hundreds of millions of pounds of investment going into creating a new retail heart that will also provide leisure and cultural facilities, new public realm and car parking with potential for offices and homes.
The redevelopment opportunity lies within the eastern part of the town centre, encompassing the existing bus station site, and Municipal Offices building, the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre, Baillie Street , Penn Street and land to the south of Smith Street , adjacent to the River Roch. The redevelopment will be complemented in a few years by the arrival of Metrolink which will connect the railway station to the town centre and provide a fast, efficient light rail link to Manchester city centre and beyond.
The town centre will include the formation of a new retail circuit with attractive squares connecting into The Wheatsheaf Centre, Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre and Yorkshire Street .
Proposed interchange
Major new developments are already beginning to happen in Rochdale Town Centre. A site has been assembled for new Municipal Office accommodation for RMBC. This development will also incorporate headquarter offices for the Primary Care Trust, a new library, a new one stop shop and cafés and restaurants. A new modern transport interchange is also proposed by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and work has been completed to remediate the site for this development. Flanking either side of the River Roch both of these new developments will begin to transform this area.
Importantly, relocating the current bus station and the existing RMBC Municipal Offices onto two adjacent new sites releases the existing sites, which are in a central location adjacent to the primary shopping core and the town’s two existing shopping malls, for major new development. The recent announcement that the Metrolink will be extended into the town centre to meet the Transport Interchange will improve accessibility and provides a further boost to the proposals.
The Rochdale Town Centre Redevelopment Opportunity envisages extending the town centre to meet the new transport facility and, importantly, provide a mixture of new town centre uses. The partners are determined to bring about transformational change within the town centre and the riverside area. Our aspirations are ambitious but the partners believe they are realistic and deliverable. In this respect, interested parties will be encouraged to consider innovative approaches to scheme design.
The national housing and regeneration agency, the Homes and Communities Agency is an active partner with Rochdale Borough Council and has provided detailed expertise and funding.
The development partner will be appointed using a two-stage Competitive Dialogue process advertised through the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). A further detailed public consultation stage will take place in early 2010 once the shortlisted developers have developed their initial schemes. It is envisaged that the development partner will be selected in summer 2010 with construction likely to start in 2012.
