Changes to development agreement for controversial £150m town centre retail development decided in secret

Changes to the the terms of a development agreement with Genr8 for the controversial and much delayed £150millon Town Centre East development was on the agenda of the Rochdale Council Cabinet meeting last night (Monday 5 August).

We are unable to reveal what these changes are as the council declared the changes to be 'Confidential/Exempt Business' and were considered 'in private'.

Genr8 was nominated as the council’s development partner in 2009 but the signing of the development agreement, expected to have taken place following a council cabinet meeting giving approval in November 2012, has still yet to happen, despite the Council pledging almost three weeks ago that the contract would be signed "within days". Councillor Peter Williams, portfolio holder for economic development and customer services, told the full council meeting held on 18 July: “I can assure members that I believe contracts are in a position to be signed in the very near future. By that I mean it is a matter of days, not weeks.”

The hold up in the exchange of contracts with Genr8, Councillor Williams said, was due to negotiations with the owners of the Wheatsheaf Centre - understood to be wrangling over a 999-year lease the council has on the former library in the Wheatsheaf Centre and wants to get out of.

With criticism being levelled at Genr8 for having struggled to get retailers to sign up to the project, Councillor Farooq Ahmed, who holds the Rochdale Borough Council finance portfolio, claimed in November 2012 that ‘big name retailers’ had signed up to move into the development, however, when formally challenged by Councillor Dale Mulgrew to identify the ‘big name’ retailers he was unable to do so, and almost a year on no retailers have been named.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has previously expressed concern whether Genr8 could deliver the development and as long ago as September 2012 warned council bosses to 'think again' before signing a deal with Genr8. He recently renewed his criticism calling the proposed development a "white elephant".

One of the UK’s leading retail turnaround specialists has also warned Rochdale Council that they should not be looking at building more retail space to regenerate the town centre.

Bill Grimsey, who has previously turned around retail businesses such as Wickes, and Iceland, as well as managing store groups in South Africa and Hong Kong, poured cold water on the Council’s proposed £150m retail development.

“The last thing Rochdale needs now is more retail space,” he said after being given a tour of the town by MP Simon Danczuk.

The plans are for around 300,000 square feet of mixed shopping and leisure uses scheduled for opening around 2023, although there are clauses allowing either side to back out, including after 12 months if proposals aren't submitted for outline planning approval.