TAMESIDE Council has been told to show ambition and deliver a ‘modern and fit for purpose space’ as it looks to redevelop Ashton’s market place.
The authority has announced its intention to bring in a £10.8 million project that will see the area – and the market hall – changed.
But councillors have told the authority’s director of place, Julian Jackson, and Cllr Vimal Choksi, executive member for town centres, what its place and external relations scrutiny panel wants to see.
If they get what they want, they believe the square, which outline drawings show will contain an area that can be used as an outdoor cinema, can be turned in to an attractive destination.
It states: “Ashton Market Square needs to be a modern and fit for purpose space that delivers a diverse mix of uses.
“The extent of adaptations is dependent on the future ambition, commitment and connection between the indoor and outdoor markets.
“While important to maintain local heritage of the site, members are keen to ensure that the council’s ambition for the project remains as bold as possible in supporting a wider pull factor.
“To create something that differentiates Ashton Market Square within the region, members are keen to ensure that work is undertaken to understand what, in addition to the current offer and mix, will lead to greater use and footfall.”
How to get into the square has also been highlighted as something that needs to be considered in the plan.
The letter adds: “There is currently a large number of access points to the market square, outdoor and indoor markets.
“There’s potential to create a more structured approach to entry and exit that supports footfall to traders and businesses, while maintaining the ease of movement to wider public services and the college.”
The panel also makes clear ‘the importance of effective costing, delivery timetables and transparency of communication throughout the length of the programme with key stakeholders.’
Summing up, they state: “In order to work for all, the project needs to be informed by all.”
If you construct one big canopy as shown, unless it is full of traders it will still attract the drinking and cannabis smokers (walk past any day and you can smell it) to the empty stalls, as at present, which will deter even more shoppers!
The proposal (which has probably already been passed) is just a large empty space and not a market. How many times has it been altered without success and with considerable cost. I think the planners are not fit for purpose. It would be interesting to know how many of them have experience in retail and local trading. The Bury market isn’t continually changed and modernised yet continues to thrive.
The money would be better spent on improving Ashton town centre in general.
The waste bins for example are filthy & a disgrace to the town. The iconic British Red telephone box is a disgrace. The litter & tipping down the side streets is both appalling & embarrassing to see.
The only decent shopping place is The Arcades which is kept immaculate ( probably no thanks to the council) & the indoor market.
Only one decent shoe shop & one boutique clothes shop. But overflowing with nail bars .
And then you intend spending over 10 million on Ashton market
Spend money wisely not on something doomed before it’s started.
I grew up in ashton it had o e of the best markets around now the council have killed it and are gonna waste money on something that no one will use why don’t you make the market what it was in the 70’s and 80’s and stop o er charging the traders if the market comes back people will start coming to ashton again instead of going to oldham to shop ashton is a market town stop destroying it
Where are the actual market stalls? , surely its not being reduced even more. what the people of Tameside need is a huge busy market selling affordable goods, with the stalls being cheap to rent to attract business . Looks like a councillors “ego folly” like the disastrous Piccadilly gardens revamp that everyone hated.
How about some decent toilets.?
In a newspaper article titled “It’s gone to pot”: The Greater Manchester ‘ghost town’ that used to be buzzing, by Paige Oldfield on 17 September 2022 :-
Cllr. Gerald Cooney, leader of Tameside Council, told the Manchester Evening News that market traders had ‘come and gone without success as people no longer want to buy from markets for various reasons’.
Accordingly; why is Tameside Council even bothering to waste further public money on yet one more ill-conceived design for Ashton town centre market?
In the sixties and seventies I used to enjoy bringing the kids from Mossley to Ashton do do my shopping, and could never get them off the two merry-go-rounds. The inside and outside markets were thriving and Stamford Street was a joy to shop on wth lots of independent shops including the Co-op where they sold beautiful furniture which we bought on H.P. Then some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to build a new roundabout with lots of traffic lights. The Co-op was gone and replaced by Lidl. The planners must have forgotten that Asda was only a few feet away with easy underground access. That all disappeared, which most people and drivers hate. Then it bagan to change for the worse. Buses no longer travelled down Stamford Street, parking meters were installed and, guess what, once thrivng shops began to close down. Wasn’t that a sign to the so-called planners?? Obviously not because I’ve since heard that Stamford Street is going to be turned into housing! Nice two or three-bedroomed homes with gardens? No, multiple occupancy flats which seem to be the rage in Ashton at the moment. Even the old M&S store opposite the market is going to be turned into flats. The market has lost its character and it needs to be revived by bringing down the exhorbitant rents. If they do that, the stall holders will return. They could run free shuttle buses, like they do at Piccadilly Station from the new Metro station to whizz them from there all around the shopping areas, including Asda, Lidl and Stamford Street, which could be turned into a fantastic, car-free shopping centre with independent shops, cafes and restaurants. Be brave and build it – people will come!
As a regular Sunday trader it reminds me of the buzz and bustle of the old market before the council decided to improve it. In my view creating more green and open space would just create more space for the undesirables. The area for the open space and events just needs finishing. Leave the market stalls as they are, improve them by painting the roofing in the by gone colours, put wood wrapping around the metal and put shutters on them to stop the vandalism, mix the traditional with the modern, traditional market stalls, not less, and the modern space opposite the town hall. Tameside has already got rid of its outdoor markets in the other towns and the new plans are to get rid of Ashton’s once and for all. The trams take everyone out of Ashton not bring them in and carrying on with this design will just kill Ashton Town centre off once and for all. Improve on what you’ve got instead of destroying it all and get the tradition back try and get some of the history back and use this to develop and sell Ashton Town center. The people are afraid of coming into Ashton because of the unsociable behaviour and how dour the place is. Come down on a Sunday and take in the atmosphere of what and how the market stalls should be
Totally agree with Margaret Wood’s comments about the disgraceful state of the town centre as a whole. The outdoor market was ruined and all the regular stall holders were lost as it took so long to create the eyesore that it is. Wasting more money on another one will be a further disaster.Common sense should say that outdoor seating will create problems with “hangers around” who come from ALL areas.As someone else has already mentioned, why can’t we have some decent family houses with gardens built on Stamford street?? instead of all these hideous apartments, the families would then use the town centre for shopping,encouraging businesses and much needed revenue .This council is clueless and the way they have let Ashton under Lyne town centre deteriorate is absolutely shameful !!!