Wigan Council reveals how £16.5m will be spent on boosting town centre

Wigan Council today shed some light on how more than £16.5m is going to be spent on boosting the town centre's high street.

The funding, which has been awarded from the Government's Future High Street Fund, will support a package of projects across Wigan town centre.

These include helping to deliver the £130m redevelopment of The Galleries, establishing a pioneering live-work scheme on King Street and public realm enhancements.

The Galleries Scheme would see retail space reduced to make way for a ‘multi-media centre’ with a six-screen cinema, music and E-sports venue, 10-lane bowling alley and mini-golf as well as more food and drink outlets and ‘evening entertainment space’.

A new hotel and 464 homes would also be built within the 440,000 sq ft site.

And a new market hall with a ‘contemporary’ foodhall, co-working space and small offices, would be created alongside a ‘re-animated’ Makinson Arcade.

The multi-phase regeneration project will be funded from a mix of private sector investment, council funds and grants.

The live-work scheme is work relating to the Heritage Action Zone project which aims to revive King Street

Together the council said the projects will help increase footfall, drive economic growth and improve the experience of the town centre for residents, businesses and visitors.

The authority has been awarded a total of £16,633,691 to support its large-scale regeneration plans, which aim to create a thriving residential, office, leisure and retail sector within the town centre.

The town hall leader Coun David Molyneux: “A lot of hard work went in to presenting such a compelling case to central government, so we are extremely pleased to have secured such a significant level of investment.

“This will make a significant contribution to the revitalisation of Wigan town centre and will complement the exciting work taking place at The Galleries and through our Heritage Action Zone on King Street.”

Coun Molyneux added: “Following what has been an extremely turbulent time, we’re confident that this news will be welcomed by residents and businesses and will give a boost to our local economy.”

North West based company, Cityheart, the developer leading on the redevelopment of The Galleries, has recently launched a pre-planning public consultation to gauge opinion on the five-year scheme.

Running until June 1, the outcomes of the consultation will help to shape the final planning application, which will be submitted during the same month. This will be followed by a statutory planning consultation.

A virtual public webinar will take place today (May 20) at 6pm, where members of the public can look at the plans, ask questions of the project team and provide constructive feedback.

To book onto the webinar or to have your say online, visit www.galleries25.com

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