A BID is being finalised for £20 million of Government cash to help regenerate Stalybridge town centre, a sum which has been described as a potential “game changer”.
Tameside Council is pitching for £40m from the Government’s £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund for major redevelopments of Stalybridge and Ashton town centres.
And leading political figures believe receiving such a sum of money would transform Stalybridge.
“We need game-changing investment to turn the town around, and this would allow us to do that,” explained Councillor Adrian Pearce, chair of the Stalybridge Town Centre Challenge advisory board.
“We need to identify what investment is needed and translate those plans and objectives into firm ideas.”
Cllr Pearce added, even without the £20m windfall, plans remain on course to regenerate the town which is a Heritage Action Zone as well as being Tameside’s nominee on Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s Town Centre Challenge.
He pointed out Stalybridge Civic Hall, suggested as a potential food hall, will be re-roofed by the end of 2021 to make the building structurally sound while there are also plans to smarten shop frontages on Market Street, the gateway to the town centre.
Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, explained the plans for Stalybridge would focus on the development of brownfield sites, including Caroline Street.
“There us a lot of derelict land and it would be a case of maximising brownfield site and getting more people to live in the town centre,” he explained.
Mr Reynolds added the developments at Summer’s Quay and on Castle Street to provide residential accommodation has had a positive effect on the local economy.
And he believed that ripple effect would continue with the development of unused brownfield land in Stalybridge town centre.
“If we are successful, £40m would be a significant amount towards transforming both Stalybridge and Ashton,” he said.
As part of the budget announced in March, the Government pledged £4.8bn of ‘levelling up funding’ to be spent in the years up to 2024-25.
It mainly focuses on transport investments, regeneration and town centres and cultural investment.
Following initial discussions with the three Tameside MPs, chiefs agreed that a bid for the constituency of Ashton should focus on Ashton town centre, and for the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency, Stalybridge town centre would be the nominee.
The town centre selected for the Denton and Reddish constituency funding bid was Reddish, which is being developed by Stockport council.
Tameside’s cabinet has agreed to spend £100,000 on specialist support which will enable the council to ‘prepare and submit robust business cases to the fund’.
This will support an investment bid for up to £20m for each town centre.
However, there are currently no details of what specific projects the funding would be spent on.
According to the cabinet report, transport investments could cover public transport, bus priority lanes, bridge repairs and local road improvements.
Regeneration funding could be used to enhance buildings and infrastructure, acquire and regenerate brownfield sites and encourage ‘safe community spaces’ into towns.
Cultural investment could also be made on maintaining or regenerating museums, galleries, visitor attractions and heritage assets.
Cabinet member for finance, Councillor Oliver Ryan said: “We have a plan for each of our town centres, in Droylsden, Denton and Hyde and this will hopefully help us with Ashton and Stalybridge to bring more of that through.
“We just hope that the Government matches our own aspiration for Ashton and Stalybridge, and we’ll do everything we can to make sure these bids are as strong as possible.
“This report is asking for some funding to put that in place.
“It’s a really good thing, we’ve just got to hope that the Government sees as much value in those town centres as we do.”
Explaining the reason for bringing in external consultants to support the council’s bids, director of growth Jayne Traverse added: “This work is significant, these bids are not small bids, and they need intense work within a very, very tight deadline.
“And on that basis, we need external support to help us prepare those bids.”
The cabinet also agreed to create a working group with the owners of Arcades and Ladysmith Shopping Centres in Ashton to develop the proposals.
Work is underway to support the development of ‘robust and deliverable bids’ to the fund for both Ashton and Stalybridge town centres by June 18
Mr Reynolds, who has met Government ministers to discuss the needs of his constituency, described the criteria of only allowing one bid from each parliamentary constituency as being “unsatisfactory”.
He said: “Stalybridge, Hyde and Mossley all have needs, but it is about maximising our chances of getting funding.
“Stalybridge is already involved in the Town Centre Challenge and is a Heritage Action Zone, so we felt there was more of a chance as those plans are up and running.”
Mr Reynolds was at pains to point out Hyde, subject of a town centre regeneration consultation, has not been overlooked.
He explained that if Stalybridge is successful in getting Government funding, that would hopefully free up other money from council budgets for Hyde.
No need for major changes to the buildings in Stalybridge. Get back to being a historic market Town.
Reopen the market for mixed trade encourage locally sourced food and drink .
Take the yellow lines away so people can pull up outside shops to pop in.
Reopen the road in front of the market hall.
Leave the bus station where it is.
We have many independent traders and good quality shops local food and drinks.
Lovely cafes
Great potential for growth and development .