Wigan Galleries transformation could "take at least seven years"

The local authority purchased the nine-acre site, which includes Makinson Arcade and the Marketgate Shopping Centre, in 2018 for £8m.

The council wants to reverse the decline of the mall, which accounts for almost a quarter of Wigan town centre’s footprint, with plans for residential, leisure, food and drink uses, office space and a new market.

A formal procurement process is now underway and the council is expecting to select a development partner to deliver its £125m vision later this year.

But Becca Heron, the town hall's director of economy and skills, told a scrutiny committee that it would take many years for this vision to become a reality and warned councillors that the journey will be “long” and “frustrating”.

She said: “I will be frank. We are talking about a redevelopment that will take, I would say, a minimum of seven years.

“Once we’ve got that development partner, then we will have to go through all of the usual stages of planning permission, and there will be consultation throughout that process.”

The council director explained why the local authority purchased the shopping centre in 2018 as part of a presentation on the future of Wigan town centre.

She said: “The decision to buy the Galleries was made before I started with the council but I think it was absolutely the right decision.

“It’s given us influence and control over essentially what is almost a quarter of the footprint of our town centre.

“There’s a high vacancy rate, partly due to that surplus retail space.

“We have brought some meanwhile uses in there. But ultimately we need a long term solution to that site.

“So we’ve embarked on what is called a competitive dialogue process – quite a long bureaucratic process – to select a development partner to help us with the redevelopment process.

“We’re still in that process and it’s sort of confidential and a commercial process so I can’t say too much.

“But each of the potential developers that we’re speaking to is looking to bring a range of different uses into The Galleries.”

Councillors also received an update on plans for other town centres this week.

Wigan Council is looking to take a similar approach to the regeneration of Leigh town centre by publishing a strategic regeneration framework.

The local authority was due to start a consultation exercise just before lockdown and will be restarting that process as restrictions start to ease.

She said: “In many ways, I think that Leigh has got more green shoots than Wigan. It’s strategically located – close to Manchester, but far enough away to provide a better quality offer at more affordable prices.

“There’s already an established residential market to build on within the town. That’s something that Wigan hasn’t yet got.

“And there’s a better independent retail offer in Leigh. But there are some challenges.”

The council’s investment priorities for the £4m Believe in Leigh funding were set out in February and include youth provision, safety, walking and cycling.

Investment in Pennington Flash, the Civic Square and Leigh Market have also been highlighted as priorities.

Ms Heron said Wigan Council is taking a more “strategic” and “holistic” approach to all town centres in the borough, but it cannot commission strategic regeneration frameworks for them all.