Wigan Pier venue has bright future

David Mayhall hopes to unveil the Altrincham Market-style venue in the old Monks Car Sales showroom in the next couple of months.

Plans are being made for a few weeks of building work to install toilets, a bar and food stalls in the facility, which it is hoped will be a kick-starter for regeneration of the iconic area.

Mr Mayhall admits there are still a few issues with building regulations to smooth out but says he wants to welcome residents through the doors for nights out soon.

He said: “I just want to get it open now. It will be a work in progress but we are hoping to get it ready for Easter.

“This has been moving slowly but we are nearly there. There is not a lot that needs doing inside.”

Mr Mayhall - who is director of the firm behind the development, Rosy Pelican - has previously said the new attraction will be an industrial-themed food court and bar.

He has also suggested having an off-licence and hosting pop-up events like a small cinema at weekends.

The news of a timetable to opening the Pottery Road/Southgate bar is not the only piece of good news for the Wigan Pier Quarter, with Mr Mayhall saying progress is starting to be made on finding new owners for The Orwell pub as well.

Together with the opening of The Edge, complete with concert hall, it is hoped this will ensure a brighter future for an area many people outside the borough associate with Wigan but which has sadly suffered in recent years.

He said: “At long last things are coming together and happening there.

“The area is just that five-minute journey out of town and it needs to give people a reason to go down there.

“What we really need are some boats there through temporary or permanent moorings. That will really attract people to the area.”

Planning permission for the new bar and food venue was granted last year by Wigan Council, which also made a number of specifications about the materials which must be used and how noise impact needs to be reduced.

Town hall committees also granted the venue a licence to open seven days a week between 10am and 11.30pm.