Ambulance station site set to form part of Pier Quarter

Wigan ambulance station is set to be demolished and become part of the Pier Quarter regeneration project.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Aug 2017, 18:05 BST
Updated 11th Sep 2017, 12:47 BST
The old Wigan ambulance stationThe old Wigan ambulance station
The old Wigan ambulance station

The building on Pottery Road will become vacant in coming weeks when ambulance service staff move to the new joint fire and ambulance station on Robin Park Road, Newtown.

Wigan Council has bought the station and has submitted a planning application seeking permission to demolish it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If approved, the site would become part of the Wigan Pier Quarter regeneration area.

Karl Battersby, the council’s director for economy and environment, said: "The North West Ambulance Service are due to relocate to the new joint emergency services hub at Saddle Junction in September.

"We have agreed to purchase the existing ambulance station on Pottery Road as it will be an essential site for the regeneration of the Wigan Pier Quarter."

The new community fire and ambulance station became operational in June when firefighters began working there.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The old fire station was demolished and the new facility built on the same site.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said its staff will begin moving to the new station in the week of Monday, September 4.

It will mean that Wigan’s fire and ambulance crews will work side-by-side from the same base.

The existing building will become part of the Wigan Pier Quarter, which centres on a collection of buildings located on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The council recently had a tender period for bids to be made to develop three Pier buildings, including The Warehouse, known as the former Way We Were Museum, The Orwell former pub and the Education Centre.

There was said to have been a huge amount of interest from developers in the buildings, with leisure, hotel, commercial, residential and creative uses being put forward.

The Wigan Pier Quarter has already seen the development of The Edge conference centre and performance venue and approved planning permission for a social, arts and cafe venue in a former industrial building next to the pier, while Trencherfield Mill continues to attract interest from major employers as a new headquarters.

Related topics:WiganWigan Council