Council director of economy confident town centre development will be built

Proposed town centre development

John Searle, director of economy at Rochdale Borough Council, remains confident that the long awaited town centre leisure/retail development - 'Rochdale Riverside' - will be built despite a new report by property consultancy Colliers International which says millions of square feet of UK shopping centre space will never be built because the challenging retail environment makes developments unviable.

The report says new-build centres scheduled to be built in the next three years would not be completed.

Mark Phillipson, head of retail at Colliers, said: “Although we’re in a much more stable economic environment now than in 2008, the market is still not buoyant enough to start building brand new shopping centres. They’d need a prolonged economic boom for that to happen.”

Mr Searle said: “While the report highlights the challenges some developments face, it also says that councils should ‘grasp the nettle’ and co-ordinate control to bring about change, which is exactly what is happening in Rochdale.

“Rochdale Riverside is only one part of our £250m regeneration programme, which started in 2010. It has already transformed the town centre and created the perfect conditions for our new shopping development to thrive, including the creation of a prime location, excellent transport links and more.

“The scheme already has three of the major tenants signed-up and negotiations with a fourth are in the advanced stages.

“The Colliers report also shows that the market is responding well to ‘right size’ developments and we are confident Rochdale Riverside will address the challenges we face here by attracting retailers that are not currently represented in Rochdale, for which there is clearly a demand.

“In the meantime, we have already implemented many of the things that are recommended in the report, such as business rates reductions and free parking.”