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Garden thoroughfare
The £135 million redevelopment looks to provide a vibrant new retail, leisure, commercial and residential destination in the heart of the town centre, transforming Wigan town centre into a vibrant, attractive and accessible place to live, work and visit. The development aims to provide more reasons for visitors to come into the town centre during the day and extend their stay into the evening, maximising the vitality and viability of the town. The project was granted planning consent in November 2021.
Background to the project
The Council bought the Galleries in 2018 for the purposes of halting the decline in of the town centre. The Strategic Regeneration Framework adopted for Wigan town centre in 2019 identified the Galleries as a major development opportunity for the delivery of economic growth and an opportunity to respond to the changing purpose and functions of town centres.
The role of towns is changing, with more demand for people to live and work in the centre and visitors increasingly looking for a more diverse shopping and leisure offer that they can’t access online or out of town. Changes to shopping habits and the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated changes and further impacted on local businesses. A more diverse town centre offer is needed.
How will we redevelop The Galleries?
The redevelopment of The Galleries will include:
- Six screen cinema
- Music and E-sports venue
- 10 lane bowling alley
- Indoor mini golf
- Food and drinks venues
- Evening entertainment space
- New hotel
- 464 residential units
- New market hall
- Landscaped public realm square for annual outdoor events
This diverse offer will benefit existing retailers by bringing more footfall and custom to the town.
The Market
As a traditional market town, Wigan Council’s vision for the town centre puts the market at the heart of its ambitious plans.
A new market will be developed and located at Marketgate. This location was suggested by a number of traders during consultation meetings due to its central location, fronting onto Wigan’s main thoroughfare, Standishgate, and its proximity to public transport routes helping to increase footfall.
The market itself will be part of a diversified new market hall offer, including a food hall, cafe, co-working and workshop space, winter gardens and the opportunity to have an outdoor offer within the new Woodcock Square and in front of the new market hall.
Meet the developer
Wigan Council have selected Cityheart Limited to become its development partner to deliver the Galleries re-development programme. Cityheart are a North West based property development and investment company who specialise in mixed-use town centre regeneration projects. Cityheart have a track record spanning in excess of 15 years successfully delivering significant projects across the whole of the country, working almost exclusively with and for the public sector. Cityheart are delivering a series of significant projects across the North West including Stockport Interchange with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and also in Halebank with Halton Borough Council.
Building a greener future
The new development has been designed to be far more environmentally sustainable than the existing centre, with ground source heat pumps and photovoltaic units helping us to save 1,530 tonnes of carbon a year - helping us to contribute towards our ambition of achieving carbon neutrality by 2038 or sooner. Electrical vehicle charging will be provided throughout, and cycle storage units will support our sustainable travel ambitions.
Protecting our heritage
This scheme does not include any listed buildings, so no listed buildings will be demolished as part of the development. English Heritage were consulted when drawing up the proposals and their suggested changes have been incorporated into the scheme.
In the wider town centre, a 'Heritage Action Zone', established to bring unused historical buildings back to life, is underway on King Street and will complement The Galleries project once complete.
Want to know more?
To find out more about The Galleries redevelopment project, you can:
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