Re-inventing Radcliffe FINAL REPORT

A report for Bury Metropolitan Borough Council

by URBED... with King Sturge and TPP

January 2004

-107- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

-106- A report for Bury Metropolitan Borough Council - Final Report - Contents by URBED with King Sturge and TPP

Part 1 January 2004 1. Introduction 1 2. The renaissance of industrial towns 3 3. The Renaissance of Radcliffe 7

Part 2 - Analysis 4. Urban Design Assessment 21 5. Commercial Audit 35 6. Town centre health check 47 URBED - Manchester 7. Access to the town centre 53 10 Little Lever Street 8. SWOT Analysis 67 Manchester M1 1HR Part 3 - Towards a Vision t. 0161 200 5500 9. Reinventing Radcliffe 79 f. 0161 237 3994

Part 4 - The Masterplan URBED - London 10. Area Proposals 87 19 Store Street London WC1E 7DH t.0207 436 8050 f. 0207 436 8053

e. [email protected] w. www.urbed.com

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-108- 1. Introduction

In which we summarise the main themes to emerge from our work and describe the structure and content of the report.

Radcliffe is a town with a long and others have moved away. As a Manchester with relative ease while and proud history. One of a result neighbourhoods, particularly going to a supermarket for their constellation of industrial towns to the east of the town centre have weekly shop. In this situation what is in North Manchester, it once also declined. This in turn has the role of Radcliffe town centre? employed thousands of people impacted on the town centre that in mining and the paper industry. grew up to serve a bustling local It is for these reasons that today, These people lived locally in community but is no longer able to while Radcliffe as a whole is not strong neighbourhoods and used rely on a loyal and local customer doing too badly, the town centre the bustling town centre with base with money to spend. is really struggling. Because the its thriving market to do their world has changed, this decline may shopping and socialising. The town centre has also been not be as easily reversed as it has faced with other challenges. Many been in larger centres like Bury. If This has all changed, not through types of shopping have moved Radcliffe town centre is to have a any fault of Radcliffe or its people. out of traditional town centres to future it must rethink its role. In The industrial revolution that supermarkets, retail parks and out- short it must ‘reinvent’ itself. created the North Manchester of-town shopping centres. The larger towns has long gone and most of town centres have responded to the manufacturing that it left in this by improving their offer. This its wake has also closed or been is particularly true of Manchester rationalised so that it is no longer City Centre but also of Bolton a major employer. Radcliffe lost and increasingly Bury. These are its mine many years ago but the places that Radcliffe people would wounds left by the closure of the have once visited only on special Radcliffe and East Lancashire Paper occasions. However, with the Mills and Allen’s Green Works are mobility afforded by the car as well much more recent. Local people as the Metrolink and buses they have had to find work elsewhere can now shop in Bury, Bolton or

-- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

This is the main conclusion of We then undertake a renaissance tunities, threats) analysis of the this report. It has been produced audit that compares Radcliffe centre along with the results of by URBED, King Sturge and TPP to a range of similar towns to the very successful workshops following a study commissioned assess how it is really doing. This with stakeholders held as part of by Bury Metropolitan Borough in fact tells a more positive story the study Council. The study follows on from than many people in Radcliffe the report on Bury Town Centre expected. While Radcliffe has This is developed in Chapter produced by the same team and many problems these are the 10 into a vision for Radcliffe, like that report will feed into the same as those suffered by towns not as an independent market review of the Unitary Development with similar history and Rad- town but as a sustainable urban Plan (UDP). However, the issues cliffe is not doing as badly as neighbourhood integrated with in Radcliffe go deeper than some places. the wider city region. This is de- planning policy and involve much veloped into a series of themes more fundamental regeneration An urban design assessment that including the promotion of issues. Yet because of the overall examines the built form of Rad- new housing, the development prosperity of Bury Borough, cliffe, the way it has grown over of the town centre as a service, Radcliffe - unlike many similar time and its currents strengths leisure and cultural hub for local towns in North Manchester - is and weaknesses. people and the development of not a Neighbourhood Renewal a unique identity of Radcliffe Area and has very limited access A commercial assessment of based on the visual arts - St Ives to regeneration funds. It is Radcliffe by King Sturge. They without the sea (or sunshine!). therefore unrealistic to make look at the market for different recommendations requiring large types of development in the area Chapter 11 develops this vision amounts of public funding. The before concentrating in more into a set of practical proposals report therefore sets out a new detail on the health of the town for the town. This area sets out vision for Radcliffe and suggests a centre. as a flexible masterplan for the route for realising this vision based town, which creates a frame- on evolution rather than revolution A transport assessment by TPP. work for a series of proposals using the tools available to us to do This looks at access to Radcliffe concerning new housing, the this report. by road, public transport, foot schools, the market, the mu- and cycle as well as looking at seum and new employment uses. The report is structured issues like parking and the bus These are then prioritised and into 11 sections. station. phased to create both a planning We start by setting the renais- framework and a deliverable sance of Radcliffe into the Chapter 9 draws these strands masterplan. national context of the urban together into a SWOT renaissance in the UK. (strengths, weaknesses, oppor-

-- 2.The renaissance of industrial towns

In which we describe progress towards the renaissance of urban the Urban Summit these conclu- areas in the UK. We suggest that while real progress is being sions have led to the Sustainable made in many places, especially the provincial cities, there are Communities Strategy and the still major questions about the future role of industrial towns that Housing Market Renewal Path- have lost their industrial base. We suggest that this is starting to finder Areas. be addressed in the larger towns but that quite different issues exist in smaller towns like Radcliffe. The lack of demand in the North has largely been mani- The regeneration of Radcliffe needs to reinvent themselves based fest in private rather than social to take place in the national context upon the repopulation of the housing areas. This is a major of the renaissance of urban areas. city centres and the growth of change from the situation five This was explored by the Urban knowledge, creative and service years ago when most housing Task Force, set out in the Urban economies. These cities (particu- problems were concentrated White Paper and most recently in larly Manchester and Liverpool) on council estates. While some the Communities Plan. URBED still have huge problems and the problems remain, many social undertook a major research project signs of recovery are confined housing providers have put their for the Urban Summit in 2002 look- to relatively small parts of the house(s) in order. This has, how- ing at the progress towards urban urban area. There is, however, ever, pushed problems into the renaissance in 24 towns and cities the sense that a corner has been private rented sector where they across England. The conclusions turned and it is possible to imag- have proved more difficult to from this work are a good starting ine the improvement in the city control. This has been an impor- point for this work in Radcliffe: centres spreading to (the inner tant contributor to housing mar- cities) as the urban renaissance ket collapse and abandonment London is booming and grow- of these cities takes hold. in some terraced housing areas, ing rapidly so that its population will soon pass 8 million for the There are increasing imbalances first time since the 1930s. This between the North and the population growth is driving South. The South is overheat- economic growth and London’s ing and suffering severe housing place as one of the three great shortages leading to price infla- world cities - with New York tion. The North is patchier with and Tokyo - is secure. areas of high demand, but also significant areas where the hous- The story in the provincial cities ing market has collapsed. This is not quite so dramatic. How- is not so much due to popula- ever, their renaissance is well tion drift from the North to the underway. Cities like Manchester South but rather from inner ur- and even Liverpool are starting ban areas to the periphery. Since

-- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Huddersfield Aspley basin the same way as people have been attracted to villages in rural or semi-rural settings. (Exam- ples: Ormskirk, Northallerton and Richmond)

Resorts: Resorts have particu- lar problems and, like industrial towns, have been suffering be- cause of the decline of domestic holidays. (Examples: Morecambe, which in Greater Manchester can help attract and retain creative New Brighton, South Shields) be seen in Salford, East Manches- people and the students add ter, Oldham and Rochdale. to the vitality and economy of The main problems lie in industrial the town. Higher education is towns and the largest concentration As URBED’s recent research a growth industry and gradu- of these is to be found in the North- for the Greater London Au- ates often remain in the area west and Yorkshire. These northern thority (City of Villages 2002) where they studied, encourag- industrial towns are the next great has shown, the renaissance of ing employers to invest there. challenge for the urban renaissance. urban areas is starting to cause (Examples: Preston, Huddersfield, the decline of some inaccessible Wolverhampton and Sunderland) The Renaissance of suburbs. It is possible that in the Industrial Towns future these could be the prob- Historic towns: Towns with The industrial revolution created a lem areas, as is the case in France. strong tourist attractions and dense network of towns in Northern good facilities have also done well England unlike anywhere else in the The situation with towns is recently. Tourism, particularly world. These towns grew rapidly however much less clear. There international tourism, has been and some, often the least organised, were a number of towns included a major growth industry and the carried on growing to become cities. in the Towns and Cities research image of these towns also means However, most remained as towns that URBED undertook for the that they are sought-after as plac- and their economic dynamic is very Urban Summit and from this es to live and invest. (Examples: different from a city. Cities suck in and URBED’s other research a Hebden Bridge, Keighley, Knutsford ) people and investment from a huge number of conclusions can be area, whereas towns have more drawn: Market Towns: Smaller towns stable economic ‘eco systems’. They with charm, historic environ- grew up, or expanded, in locations University towns: The existence ments and nearby countryside that were suitable for manufactur- of a University has a huge effect have also proved attractive, espe- ing industry - often close to raw on a town’s fortunes. Universities cially to older people - in much materials, power sources and/or

-- water transport (and later rail). The The success of such industrial towns economic activity as is now starting town clustered around the factories depended on the health of these to happen. For towns this is more because people had to live close industries. In good times the major difficult. These economic forces to where they worked. Travel was firms employed thousands of people could raise fundamental questions limited so that towns - even large and would invest in civic amenities. - once the reason for the town’s places - could grow up close to each However, on the whole these towns growth has gone, what purpose does other without being in competition. thrived not because they were attrac- it have and how can it compete with Many places became dominated by tive or pleasant places to be but be- the big cities on the one hand and one industry like the paper industry cause people were stuck with them. the historic and market towns on the in Radcliffe and some places even Most people had little choice over other? became dominated by just one where they lived, and low housing employer such as ICI in Middles- standards and a poor environment Not all industrial towns are the same. brough or Pilkington in St. Helens. were accepted facts of life. URBED have undertaken work recently on towns like Bury, St. Hel- In the last few decades this stable ens, Stoke and Oldham where these economic ‘eco system’ has bro- fundamental questions are starting ken down in many places. Faced to be addressed. These are all towns by worldwide competition, British of 60-100,000 people. Radcliffe falls manufacturing, mining and other into a different category of town industries have suffered a deep de- with a population of 20-40,000. cline. Almost without exception, the These towns it seems to us are quite industry that sustained these towns different to their larger neighbours. is no longer a major employer and While the reasons for decline are generator of local wealth. This is similar - namely the loss of tradi- true of mining in Barnsley, textiles tional employment and a ‘captive’ in Halifax and fishing in Grimsby local population - the solutions and of course paper in Radcliffe. In are likely to be different. Whereas some cases this is because of decline larger towns like Bury remain major but in others such as glass in St. centres for shopping, administration Helens it is due to vastly improved and employment, this is not the case productivity or, in the case of the ce- with the smaller towns. They can no ramics industry in Stoke, the transfer longer survive as smaller copies of of manufacturing overseas. This has the larger towns - but need to find also happened in cities - the docks new roles. We return to this task in Liverpool being a classic exam- later in this report, however, we first ple. While cities have suffered from seek to assess how Radcliffe is doing these trends, they are more able to compared to other similar towns as diversify and to develop alternative set out in the next section. top: Bolton market hall, centre: Bolton’s Churchgate and Bradshawgate, bottom: Sunderland -- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Oldham: Tommyfield market -- 3. The Renaissance of Radcliffe

In which we look at the changing role of Radcliffe throughout its history and the challenges that it faces today. We then assess how well it is facing up to these challenges when compared to similar industrial towns elsewhere. This allows us to draw conclu- sions about its possible future.

Radcliffe’s history the current town centre is ‘Radcliffe Radcliffe, meaning red cliff after the Bridge’ suggesting a later origin. exposed sandstone on the southern Radcliffe, therefore, has an impor- side of the Irwell Valley, has always tant pre-industrial history. It was been an auspicious location for a one (albeit the smallest) of the 10 settlement. Mesolithic and Stone parishes that made up the Salford Age remains have been found on 100 giving it a similar status to Bury, what was a fertile flood plain near Bolton and even Manchester. In the the confluence of the River Irwell English Civil War Radcliffe and Bol- and the River Roch. The existence ton fought for Parliament against of a fording point meant that the the Royalist Bury. It therefore has a Roman Road from the fortress of proud and independent history. Mancunium to Ribchester passed through Radcliffe and led to the The entity of North Manchester earliest settlement around what is was transformed by the Industrial now the Radcliffe tower. Revolution. Mining had taken place in Radcliffe since 1221 and the Radcliffe (or Rad-clive) developed textile industry since arable fields as a Saxon settlement around the were turned over to sheep during Royal Manor. This was focused on the Black Death. However mecha- the Manor House that stood at the nisation, such as the ‘flying shuttle’ eastern end of Spring Lane (demol- invented nearby by John Kay, and ished in the 1840s) and tower (now the development of transport in- Far left: Radcliffe, aerial view scheduled as an ancient monu- frastructure of canals and later rail- This page: top: Blackburn Street, ment). On historic plans this area ways created a series of boomtowns middle: the Viaduct in 1879, bottom: Blackburn Street in the 1920’s is referred to as Radcliffe, whereas in Lancashire. Cotton manufacture

-- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Radcliffe Library minal decline in the face of cheaper imports and now hardly exists other than a few specialist manufacturers. However, long before the death of textiles Radcliffe had moved into paper. Developing from the start of the 20th century Radcliffe and Ramsbottom became major paper making centres. In Radcliffe this continued into the 1980s and early 1990s with the Radcliffe and East initially concentrated in Manchester population both male and female. Lancashire Paper mills employing moved out to the surrounding mill The East Lancashire Railway and thousands of people. Even as late towns, particularly Bolton, Oldham the Bolton Bury canal, which pass as the early 90s major investment and Rochdale, which grew from close to the village, furnish the was taking place in these mills and small market towns into huge indus- greatest facilities for the transit of the town’s economy seemed secure. trial centres. its manufactures and merchandise However, the paper mills have now …’ gone, victim to group restructur- Radcliffe, connected to the canal ing and rationalisation. These system in the 1790s and to the This entry is illuminating because are fundamental and very recent railway system in the 1840s (once while it lists an extraordinary changes in the town and its econ- having 7 railway stations!), shared amount of commerce it is still able omy. Radcliffe has not yet come to in this boom. As Whellen & Co’s to describe Radcliffe as a ‘village’. terms with these changes which is directory of 1853 stated:- This could not have been said of one of the purposes of this report. Bury or Bolton at the same time. The closures have left a large gap in ‘[Radcliffe has] its full share of all In fact Radcliffe had a population Radcliffe’s economy as well as large those advantages that characterise of about 6,500 in the 1850s. This vacant sites around the town centre. the neighbouring towns, result- had risen from 2,497 at the start of Part of the Radcliffe Paper Mill ing from the establishment of the the century and would mushroom site has already become a suburban cotton and other manufacturers to 16,267 by 1881. Nevertheless, housing estate. The question now is which consist chiefly of ginghams, it remained small compared to the what should become of the other checks, ticks, nankeens and fustians main Lancashire mill towns. sites and how can we contribute to besides cotton spinning, small ware a new vision for the town? manufacture and calico printing: The textile industry on which and in the parish and its neighbour- Radcliffe was based went through a hood there are several coal mines, series of booms and busts from the the whole affording employment 1850s right through to the 1950s. to large numbers of the working However, after that it went into ter-

-- What type of place is While it may be physically separated singles’ (yuppies) of which there are Radcliffe? from the surrounding towns, it is very few in North Manchester. The As we have said Radcliffe is one of no longer the case that Radcliffe is plan shows Radcliffe to be part of a constellation of industrial towns socially distinct. It is home today to a band of working class population north of Manchester. As we de- 36,800 people. However, the resi- extending into Bolton. However, to scribe in Chapter 7 it has good con- dential areas to the north and south the north and south are concentra- nections to the M60 and is linked to of the town operate as suburbs tions of suburban middle classes Manchester by the Metrolink. It is of Bury and Manchester and their linked to Prestwich and west Bury located between Bolton and Bury in residents do not necessarily relate through to Ramsbottom. the valley of the River Irwell. As a to Radcliffe. The resulting socio- result of this it is much more physi- demographic pattern of population The neighbourhood plan (figure 2) cally distinct as a town than other is illustrated on the mosaic plan (fig- tries to make sense of this complex small towns that have been engulfed ure 1). This is produced by Expe- picture. It suggests to us that there by their larger neighbours. Radcliffe rian and is used by retailers to map is a hierarchy of places within the is surrounded by open space and where their potential customers region. At the top of this are the rural/semi rural land. Because of are. Generally the purple and blue cities of Manchester and Liverpool. the steep sides of the valley this colours are suburban middle classes, These cities contain within them open space is visible from the town the yellows, oranges and reds are a large number of neighbour- centre and is an important part of the working classes and the greens hoods some of which were once Radcliffe’s character. are what Experian calls ‘stylish independent towns. In this respect

Figure 1 - Neighbourhood Plan: A Mosaic Plan of Greater Manchester: This is produced by Experian Ltd. based on Census data. (copyright Experian)

-- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Manchester as a social and econom- rival towns. In Greater Manchester, ic entity extends beyond its admin- with the exception of Tameside, the istrative area to include places like authority is named after the largest Salford, Ashton and even Prestwich towns. Bury is made up of 6 main - roughly up to the line of the M60 areas including Prestwich, Ramsbot- making it a city of about a million tom, Whitefield, Tottington and people. The next tier of place are Radcliffe. These settlements have the industrial towns including Bury, lost their independence and, to a Wigan, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport, degree, their identity. They also St Helens, Macclesfield etc. These share a sense of having slipped are generally 60-100,000 in popula- down the priority list compared to tion and are administrative centres. the attention and spending given to the administrative centre. In as- The tier below this includes Rad- sessing how Radcliffe is doing and cliffe and is made up of towns of what its future might be we need to 20-40,000 populations. These were consider it in relation to this ‘third once independent town councils but tier’ of towns. were absorbed into larger council areas in the government reorganisa- tion of 1974. These towns have lost their administrative functions and have often been amalgamated into boroughs bearing the name of their larger neighbouring and sometimes

Figure 2 - Regional settlement structure: Based on the ideal struc- ture (above) suggested by the Urban Task Force

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Population change and Percentage of population projected population change, over pension age, source: Local Knowledge, 2001 source: Local Knowledge, 2001

Percentage of people with Unemployment rate, long-term illness, source: Local source: Local Knowledge, 2001 knowledge, 2001

Percentage of population Percentage of population aged 16 who are economically active, to 74 with and without qualifications, source: Local Knowledge, 2001 source: Local Knowledge, 2001

-12- How is Radcliffe doing? or ward level. The district clearly able age. Radcliffe South has A list of facts and figures about subsumes the smaller towns while a slightly higher number than a place means very little without the wards do not always correspond most of the comparison towns something to compare them to. to the town’s boundaries. We have, except Failsworth. This is normally done over time therefore, used Radcliffe North, showing a trend. In Radcliffe’s case Central and South. Long-term illness: Radcliffe is historic trends are clearly influenced also roughly average with regard by the recent closures and show a Population change:The popu- to long-term illness, Ramsbot- picture of decline. We have, there- lation of Bury rose modestly in tom is the best in this respect fore, chosen to compare Radcliffe the 1990s but is predicted to but Radcliffe is not far behind. to similar ‘third tier’ towns. This fall slightly between 1996 and has allowed us to compare Radcliffe 2006. This is due to an ageing Economic activity rates: The to its peers, many of which have population and falling household proportions of economically a similar history. During discus- size rather than depopulation. active people vary widely across sion with the steering group for This Borough-wide figure is Radcliffe. Radcliffe North does the study, five comparator towns well below the national average very well while Radcliffe South were identified: Ramsbottom, also but marginally better than the is worse than all the comparison in Bury, Heywood in Rochdale, comparison towns. It is likely to towns. Failsworth in Oldham, Leigh in mask variations with Whitefield Wigan and Stalybridge in Tameside. growing strongly while Radcliffe Unemployment: The unem- has declined. An important goal ployment rates in Central and We have compared these places for Radcliffe must be to reverse North Radcliffe are low com- to Radcliffe to get a sense of how this population decline. pared to the comparison towns. Radcliffe is really doing. There are, Radcliffe South is by contrast however, problems with the data Pensioners: Radcliffe is not very similar. for these third tier towns because exceptional with regards to the some data is only available at district number of people over pension-

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Index of Multiple Deprivation, Crime figures, source: IMD, source: local knowledge; Local knowledge, 2001 DETR

School performance at House prices, source: borough level, source: Local Local knowledge, 2001 Knowledge, 2001

Successful university admissions, Average earnings, source: source: Local Knowledge, 2001 Local knowledge, 2001

-14- Qualifications:Data on quali- Bury are the highest of all the perform to the Borough-wide fications is only available at a comparison towns although still standards. Borough level. This shows that below the national average. It is, Bury has significantly more peo- however, clear that Radcliffe is University admissions: Despite ple with qualifications than all of below the Borough average. the relatively poor performance the other boroughs. However, of the Radcliffe schools, the Radcliffe is identified as having House prices: The house price proportion of the population notably lower educational attain- figures are slightly at odds with that go to university is high in ment than the Borough average. the other data because Radcliffe Radcliffe North and average in South has the higher house Central and South. Deprivation: The ODPM prices than Radcliffe North indices of deprivation show despite being more deprived Crime: Radcliffe has a reputa- Radcliffe South and Central to in most other respects. This is tion for crime but the statistics be comparable with most of probably because the influence show this not to be a major the comparison towns except of Whitefield is cancelling out problem. The main issue seems Ramsbottom. the poorer economic figures. to be with vehicle crime. The Prices in Radcliffe Central are police have confirmed that crime Employment change: Bury has as low as any of the comparison levels are not a major problem in seen a lower growth in jobs than towns. Radcliffe. any borough except Tameside. This reflects the job losses in School performance: Bury Access to services: Figures the Borough, including those secondary schools perform compiled by the Audit Commis- in Radcliffe, and also Bury’s better than the other campara- sion show the ease with which difficulty in competing for jobs tor town’s boroughs and indeed people can reach basic services. against assisted areas. exceed the national average. We These show Radcliffe North to know, however, that the Rad- be very isolated while Radcliffe Earnings: Average earnings in cliffe secondary schools do not South and Central are average.

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A significant conclusion to emerge from this analysis is the notable dis- parity between Radcliffe North and South. Generally Radcliffe North is more affluent, in some cases almost comparable with Ramsbottom. It is likely that this area relates to Bolton rather than Radcliffe.

By contrast the south and to a lesser extent the central parts of Radcliffe are comparable to, and in some Employment change, source: Local Knowledge, 2001 cases worse than, the other towns in terms of unemployment and low income levels. This is signifi- cant because, with the exception of Ramsbottom, all of the other towns are assisted areas eligible for neighbourhood and regeneration funding. The figures for Radcliffe South and Central are not perhaps as bad as one might expect of a town that has recently experienced major industrial closures. Neverthe- less, it is a deprived area that has Geographical access to the ‘misfortune’ to be in a relatively public services, source: Local Knowledge, 2001 affluent Borough.

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-18- Part 2 - Analysis -19- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

-20- 4. Urban Design Assessment

In which we narrow our focus to Radcliffe town centre in order to explore its physical structure. We start by looking at the historic structure of the town and at the current urban form. We then look at the mix of uses, the hierarchy of streets and the quality of the public realm.

The historic development of Bridge. Radcliffe Hall can still been built with a new station in Radcliffe be seen just before its demoli- Radcliffe. Spring Lane and Cross The history of Radcliffe as de- tion. The plan shows the Clifton Lane have been built up join- scribed in the last chapter is etched Junction and Accrington Railway ing the two parts of Radcliffe into the streets and buildings of as well as the canal to the north. and the East Lancashire Paper Radcliffe. This is illustrated on the However, industrial growth has Mill has expanded into a major three plans from 1843, 1893 and yet to take hold and the town is industrial complex. 1930. still largely rural in character. The 1930s plan shows the The earliest map shows what is By the end of the 19th cen- further industrialisation of little more than 2 villages sur- tury Radcliffe has grown into a Radcliffe with a series of cotton rounded by collieries. On this much more recognisable shape. mills along the Irwell and a town plan there are still open fields The Prestwich Branch of the centre densely hemmed in by between Radcliffe and Radcliffe East Lancashire Railway has terraced housing.

-21- Historic plans of Radcliffe

Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Plan 1: Radcliffe in 1843

Plan 2: Radcliffe in 1893

Plan 3: Radcliffe in 1930

-22- A series of Figure ground plans for Inner Radcliffe.

The sequence of figure ground plans shows the growth of Radcliffe from the scattered village like settle- ments of 1843 through the growth into a thriving industrial town right through to the 1950s. However, the change after 1950 is equally stark.

The final figure ground plan (plan Plan 4: Radcliffe’s figure ground plan of 1843 7 on page 25) shows the disintegra- tion of the urban structure of the town as described below.

Urban Form The figure ground plan shows just the buildings of Radcliffe and noth- ing else. This type of plan is useful in illustrating three important issues:

Density of development While it does not show the height of buildings the plan does show the footprint of build- ings and the density of ground Plan 5: Radcliffe’s figure ground plan of 1893 coverage. What this illustrates is that the neighbourhoods of Radcliffe are relatively densely built, notably the Lord Street and Cross Lane neighbour- hoods. However, whereas once the density of development rose further around the town centre, now it decreases dramatically. The centre is therefore isolated from its hinterland.

Plan 6: Radcliffe’s figure ground plan of 1930

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Plan 8: Land use

Plan 9: Character areas

Plan 10: Townscape

-24- Plan 7: Inner Radcliffe, Figure ground plan, 2003

Enclosure of space types in the town. This shows an Land use Most successful public spaces overall lack of variety with the The next step is to look at the be they streets or public squares domination of terraced hous- use of buildings as shown on are defined by buildings. They ing. The historic figure grounds Plan 8. This shows that the pre- should therefore show up on the show that this was always the dominant use in the town is resi- figure ground plan 7. To a large case. The figure plan indicates dential. The main mix of uses extent they still do in Radcliffe. that the neighbourhoods sur- extends north and south along The town square stands out rounding Radcliffe town centre the old line of the A665 through clearly as does the lower part of retain much of their form and the town. This extends for a Blackburn Street, Stand Lane character. However, whereas surprisingly long way up Water and Church Street West. There these neighbourhoods once Street. While the industrial parts are, however, problems in the focused on the town centre of the town are much reduced zone cut through by the by-pass today the centre is isolated and they remain concentrated in the where the enclosure of space surrounded by open space. The valley bottom particularly along breaks down. This is also true Asda, the by-pass and the vacant Milltown Street and Sion Street. of the public space around the sites around the Civic Centre Civic Centre. mean that the town centre has Character areas been reduced to the lower part These land uses combine to Grain and variety of Blackburn Street, Stand Lane, create a series of character areas Plan 7 also gives some indica- Dale Street and Church Street in the town as shown on Plan 9. tion of the variety of building West. This again shows the predomi-

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Plan 11 shows the street network of 1930 (over todays figure ground)

Plan 12: todays road hierarchy

-26- nance of terraced residential unremarkable. There are many defined zone around the town centre areas to the north and east and buildings that detract from the described above. However, it also more suburban housing to the appearance of the town. These relates to more recent development south. The industry winds its include the market hall and Kwik such as the St Thomas’ housing way along the valley floor. The Save and the Dunelm Mill shop estate and the area to the rear of the town centre is a small linear that looms over the town. swimming baths. In order to further area bordered to the west by the explore the quality of this public out-of-town character of the Radcliffe, therefore, has very few realm we have undertaken the fol- Asda and the by-pass. There are architectural assets. Nevertheless, lowing analysis: the remnants of a smaller village it is not an unattractive town. It centre around Radcliffe Tower. retains the character of a historic Street hierarchy - The first issue river crossing climbing up the sides relates to the hierarchy of streets in Townscape (Plan 10) of the Irwell valley. There are a the town. Successful places tend to Radcliffe is not blessed with number of important views across have a clear hierarchy as follows:- a fine stock of buildings of the valley from Radcliffe New Road architectural or historic value. and Water Street as you arrive in the High streets carry through traffic The most historic structure is town. and also tend to be where most the Radcliffe Tower although of the shops and public facilities this is not a dominant townscape Public realm are located. feature. The two most nota- We have, so far, focused on the Secondary streets give access into ble structures are St Thomas’ buildings and their uses. We turn the different parts of the town Church, which dominates the now to the public spaces of the and contain fewer shops. town due to its prominent loca- town. These are set out on the Tertiary streets are then the local tion and the Outwood Viaduct, Public Realm plan (Plan 13). This routes that give access to the which dominates the valley. shows all of the areas of the town buildings of the town. There are few other buildings to which the public has access. For of note such as the former most of the town the public realm Plan 11 shows the historic street Radcliffe Times building, the is reasonably well defined. However, hierarchy of Radcliffe. This shows a Library and a number of former there are areas where it breaks down. clear set of high streets along the line banks, which are attractive but These relate partly to the poorly of the A665 and the A6053 (most

-27- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

high streets are A roads). The valley and link together to form a coherent through traffic without supporting topography of Radcliffe tends to limit street network. any shops other than the Asda. While the number of through routes so this has benefited the town by reduc- there are not many secondary routes. Plan 12 shows the street hierarchy to- ing traffic intrusion it has undermined However, Stand Lane, Ainsworth day. This is very similar to the historic the hierarchy by leaving the high Road and Bury Road would probably plan with the important exception of street with no through traffic or pass- fall into this category. The remain- the by-pass. This creates a new tier to ing trade. This is why the Water Street der of the streets are tertiary routes the hierarchy, the by-pass that takes area around the junction of Spring

Plan 13: public realm plan

-28- Street remains a healthy retailing area on plans 11 and 12 in green are Thomas’ estate to the new housing despite the traffic congestion and its through routes and those in yellow on the Radcliffe Paper Mill site. The peripheral location. This disruption are cul-de-sacs. The plans show that results of the severance can be seen of the street hierarchy tends to inten- there has been a significant growth of in the Lord Street area, which has sify the isolation of the town centre. yellow routes. This is partly severance become cut off from the centre and caused by the by-pass and partly the is served by just one very congested Permeability - An important aspect design of development from the St access point. of any street network is the ease with which people can move through the area by a variety of routes. Permeable areas with lots of connections tend to be livelier, safer and support more shops. The historic street plan shows that Radcliffe was never very perme- able due to the natural features of the area. The river is historically a major barrier to permeability with formerly just one bridge and even today only two. Surprisingly there are even fewer road crossings over the canal with Water Street being the only vehicular crossing in the 4-mile stretch between Bolton Street in Bury and Kersley. This lack of connectivity may well be the reason why Radcliffe didn’t grow as large as Bury or Bolton.

The real change between the historic and present day street patterns is local permeability. Tertiary streets shown

-29- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Environmental Audit - We have also looked at the quality of these streets. This is based on a 15-point environmental audit. We have walked each of the streets of the town and Environmental Audit - ISSUE SCORES marked each of these 15 issues, +1 for good, 0 for average and -1 for poor. These scores are then weighted and totalled to give an overall score for each issue and a rating for each street.

The issue scores show that Radcliffe does not score particularly well in overall terms. However, there are some very positive scores for cleanli- ness, graffiti and fly posting. Many of the other scores are negative with particularly poor scores for overall appearance and townscape. There are also poor scores for the percep- tion of safety, traffic intrusion and noise. Overall the conclusion is that the

-30- Environmental Audit - STREET SCORES

town is well managed but suffers from a poor built fabric and from traffic intrusion from the by-pass in particular. In terms of street scores the best street by some consider- able distance is Darbyshire Street. This is a combination of attractive housing, a park along the line of the former railway line and proximity of the church. Good positive scores are also shown for Blackburn Street, Cross Street, New Church Street, School Street, Spring Lane, Rectory Lane, Bury Street and Stand Lane. The poorest score is shown for Cross Lane because of a combina- tion of vacant housing and traffic in- trusion. Bury Road, Pilkington Way, Green Street and Seymore Street also score poorly. Overall 24 streets have negative scores and just 12 are positive. There is clearly a great deal of work that needs to be done to improve the public realm.

-31- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Friendly places/hostile spaces smaller areas on Cross Lane, Bury Thomas’ Church yard and the space - One of the issues that determine Road and Water Street that feel to the east of the Metrolink Station. the quality of the public realm is much more hostile. The open space next to the Civic the way that buildings address the Centre has great potential but is street. Plan 14 shows the buildings Open space - The final aspect of little used. The plan also shows the that present attractive ‘friendly’ the public realm is open space. Plan proximity of the surrounding coun- faces to the street. These are really 15 shows the open space in and tryside. Indeed, the embankments very limited. By contrast there is a around Radcliffe. The best public along the Metrolink line and Coney large area around the by-pass and open spaces are Coronation Park, St Green school grounds means that

Plan 14: friendly faces and hostile spaces

-32- the open space that once separated regard to its built forms. The town further isolating the town centre. the original Radcliffe village from centre is isolated from its surround- Radcliffe therefore lacks architec- Radcliffe Bridge still exists and ings and is very limited in its extent. tural features but has tremendous could be emphasised. Overall there are few notable build- natural assets. It is therefore not ings with the exception of St Tho- particularly sensitive in terms of Overall the urban design assessment mas’ Church, which is a fine local townscape giving the potential to has painted a picture of a town landmark. The town suffers from introduce contemporary design to that has some intrinsic qualities but poor connections and the by-pass create a distinctive identity. is generally undistinguished with has undermined the street hierarchy,

Plan 15: open space

-33- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

-34- 5. Commercial Audit

As part of the study King Sturge have undertaken an assessment of developer interest in the town as well as a more detailed health check of the town centre. The results of this work are outlined in this chapter and chapter 6.

Market assessment spreading outwards through the re- forecasts for northern region of This section considers the follow- gions. This trend reflects a number Britain were higher at 10 - 15%. ing property market sectors within of factors including: The average property prices in the Radcliffe; Residential, Office, Lei- North West were reported to have, sure, and Industrial. Retail activity Overall economic strength and for the first time broken through is covered in a separate town centre stability the £100,000 mark. health check chapter. The property Historically low interest rates market in Bury is considered in de- Stability of interest rates The two most obvious trends in tail in order to provide a context for Increased security from steadily the market in terms of product the Radcliffe market, which is part reducing unemployment through are partly related to each other. of the Bury market. Each property the 1990’s Planning restrictions have begun market sector is also considered in Underlying under supply of to curtail urban sprawl and house- its wider national, regional and sub housing nationally builders nationally are becoming regional context. This will provide more prepared to work with ‘diffi- an up to date foundation for the According to the Nationwide cult’ i.e. previously - developed sites. development of the town centre Quarterly House Price Review, 2002 Secondly, the trend towards city vision. saw some of the highest monthly and town centre living continues increases in house prices nation- to expand rapidly, partly linked to The National Context - In recent ally since 1993 and this at a time an increase in consumer interest in years there has been a significant of increasing fears of an economic good design and modern lifestyles. rise in the average UK house price, slow down. The same review of Again this has forced builders to with the South East of England Summer 2003 forecasted a house address demand for better-designed experiencing some of the greatest price rise of 10% (unchanged on products. margins of growth and this trend the previous forecast), although

Bury Greater Manchester England & Wales Detached £ 187k £ 207k £ 251k Semi Detached £ 109k £ 110k £ 146k Terraced £ 71k £ 64k £ 120k Average Price of Property (July Flat/Maisonette £ 129k £ 108k £ 152k - September 2003) Overall £ 105k £ 101k £ 162k Source: Land Registry, 2003

-35- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Bury Greater Manchester England & Wales Detached + 15% + 19% + 14% Semi Detached + 27% + 19% + 15% Terraces + 24% + 21% + 11% Flat/Maisonette + 45% + 5% + 6% Change in Property Prices - 2002 -2003 Overall + 21% + 14% + 11% Source: Land Registry, 2003

Bury (including Radcliffe) finds imity to attractive countryside, good a high demand for terraced proper- itself at the edge of one of the communications, links by tram to ties in Radcliffe particularly from leading centres of housing renais- Manchester City Centre, a strong first time buyers who cannot afford sance - Manchester. sub-regional retail centre, very good to purchase a property elsewhere in schools and cheaper house prices the Borough and indeed in North The Bury Housing Market - than those of the southern part of Manchester. This demand has Land Registry figures for 2002 and the Greater Manchester conurba- already lead to increased values and 2003 show that Bury (figures which tion despite increases. will continue to do so. include Radcliffe) is experiencing greater growth in property prices The Radcliffe Housing Market- Houses located in and around than the England and Wales aver- Values for the Radcliffe housing Radcliffe town centre are generally age. Over the last year the average market are included within the Valu- those of the lowest value. Most house price has increased by 15% ation Office figures for the Borough properties are brick terraced and in Bury compared with just 13% of Bury. With closer examination many are unimproved in terms of nationally. In all types of property of the local market in Radcliffe it is décor, kitchens and bathrooms. As the Bury housing market out-per- clear that average property values noted, although these properties forms that of Greater Manchester are lower than most other parts have increased in value in the last 12 and England and Wales. of the Borough. In particular, the months, values are low in compari- values of terraced properties are son to properties elsewhere in the Despite this large rise in prices the lower in Radcliffe with many selling Borough. The average selling price average price of a dwelling in Bury at prices of between £40 - 45K. of the houses within and close to still only represents 60% of the Whilst there are some lower value the town centre is approximately national average. This figure is very terraced properties in other areas £40,000. Terraced property has similar to the average for Greater of the Borough (including parts not suffered from the catastrophic Manchester. of central Bury) overall values are decline in values affecting many higher elsewhere. northern towns. In Radcliffe the These figures suggest that the Bury demand for terrace property is Housing Market is particularly Local agents confirmed the buoy- comparatively good. buoyant in all sectors. Bury as a ancy of the housing market in Borough has many attractions as a Radcliffe and throughout the There has been some new build residential location including; prox- Borough. Agents have experienced activity in Radcliffe - the majority

-36- of which is at the former Radcliffe confirms that there is a demand for ing in the last 5 years has been Paper Mill site. This development accommodation in town centre en- by the private sector and this is includes three and four bedroom vironments outside of Manchester likely to continue. properties of mews, towns house, City Centre. Most new homes have been semi-detached and detached design three bedroom properties. and 1 and 2 bedroom flats. The first Whilst Radcliffe also lacks the town 95% of new dwellings are phase of this development sold well centre facilities which would be located within schemes where including properties from £112,000 deemed necessary to attract people the 30 dwellings per hectare to £221,000 thus indicating a to live in the town centre, it is likely Government guidance density is healthy market for new build prop- that if a range of town centre ac- being met. erties in Radcliffe. Subsequently, a commodation were available includ- Conversions of properties from second phase is underway which ing that suited to first time buyers, other uses to residential is in- Barratts believe will also sell well. then it would provide an alternative creasingly making an important to those buyers who may otherwise contribution to Bury’s housing There is currently little ‘town cen- purchase a terrace property close requirements. This is likely to tre’ living in Radcliffe except for to the town centre. Further, with continue. some accommodation above shops. the good transport links to Man- However, there are substantial areas chester City Centre provided by Conclusions - Bury as a Borough is of terraced housing close to the the Metrolink and the potential for undoubtedly an attractive residential town centre for which there is a developing accommodation along location. Radcliffe, whilst lagging significant demand as discussed. As the riverside, Radcliffe could be a behind Bury in terms of house pric- the market for new, good quality desirable location for town centre es is experiencing a good demand accommodation within the central living in the future. for both older terraced properties area is yet to be tested it is difficult and new build semi-detached and to predict demand. Estate agents Bury Council’s recent (April 2003) had perceived that people were not annual report on housing land avail- generally interested in town centre ability came to a number of relevant living in Bury as the town centre is conclusions: not particularly attractive and lacks facilities such as quality restaurants 85% of housing completions to attract both young professionals took place on previously - devel- and the 30 plus age band to live in oped land. the town. However two apartment For the last 2 years Bury has ex- / town house developments have ceeded the Government’s target recently taken place close to the of ensuring 60% of new house town centre and the properties were building takes place on brown- all easily sold for values of between field sites. £63,000 and £90,000. Hence, this The majority of house build-

-37- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

detached houses and flats and has It is, therefore, important that that will influence future devel- experienced significant price growth the conditions should be right to opments. in the last 18 months. Much of the encourage developers to invest in accommodation presently available new house building within Radcliffe Office is lower quality terrace properties Town Centre. In order to achieve National Context - The UK office although with increases in demand this, it needs to be ensured that: market experienced mixed fortunes improvements are being made to from 2002 as the period of econom- properties. There is an achievable vision for ic uncertainty continued to impact the town and that developers can on demand for office space. In the The rise in town and city centre liv- see how their schemes fit within majority of office centres the trend ing has been fuelled by demographic this. was for rising availability and falling change resulting in a greater number levels of demand with only a few of smaller households being formed Sites, which are attractive to po- exceptions in the regions. and a desire for a different housing tential residents, are available for product close to shops, entertain- development. The continued slowing of the global ment facilities and public transport. economy in 2002-03 and the down- Whilst improvements are required The design of, and materials used grading of UK economic growth to the quality of the town centre in, any new town centre housing forecasts by the Chancellor impact- and facilities, there is potential to de- is to appropriately high stand- ed on demand for office space in the velop town centre living in Radcliffe ards. UK as business confidence waned. and to attract a greater number of The volume of take-up in 18 of residents to live in Radcliffe overall. Where the costs of an appro- the 24 centres monitored by King priate housing development Sturge had on average, declined by exceed the end values that the 45%. This period of uncertainty Council support any application continued through 2003, although, for “housing gap” funding to in line with the gradual improve- the North West Development ment in the economy, the market Agency. A gap could arise from stabilised in 2003, and started off high abnormal costs caused for well in January 2004. example by ground conditions. Such grant will be difficult to A two-tier market is developing in access unless a very good case terms of the quality of office space can be made of the project’s available. There are clear dispari- contribution to kick-starting ties between the levels of grade A the housing market in the town, space available in the city centre and making a major contribution to out-of-town markets. For example, its regeneration and setting a 24% of space in Manchester’s city quality of design and materials centre is grade A, compared to 51%

-38- in South Manchester. Potentially this dia Technology Sectors (TMT). As to address this, solutions such as is an advantage for ‘new markets’ already identified, over-acquisition congestion charging and alternative that do not carry a mass of second- of space by TMT occupiers over the transport provision will become ary stock. past couple of years has led to new more important to market trends. space remaining empty and being Developers will remain cautious for Prime rents stabilised or fell slightly released back to the market. the foreseeable future in the major- in the majority of office centres but ity of markets, since speculative 11 of 24 key office markets re- The stabilisation of prime rents in starts have all but stopped in the corded growth in prime rents. The the majority of office centres masks majority of office centres. This will regional office markets dominated the increasing incentives offered to further exacerbate the acute short- this growth. Average rental value tenants. The rising levels of supply, age of available new space in many growth slowed dramatically in 2002 combined with space marketed by office centres, with limited comple- although the regional office centres tenants, are leading to increasingly tions in 2003 and little expected have maintained growth. competitive landlords who offer to come out of the ground in the greater rent-free periods, lowering short term. Occupiers seeking new The commercial property market by some margin the actual net effec- space will be increasingly restricted continued to outperform other asset tive rent achieved. to pre-sold or pre-let development classes (equities and gilts) in 2002 opportunities. and we expect this trend to continue The government and the public sec- in the short term. Property there- tor will continue to be a key source The Greater Manchester Office fore remains an attractive investment of demand for office space through- Market – Manchester’s out of town but, with high levels of availability in out the UK. Traditional and local office market is broadly made up many office centres, office proper- occupiers will underpin demand for of four markets: South Manches- ties with secure income streams will office space in the majority of office ter, Salford Quays, Warrington and remain attractive to investors. centres in 2003. North Manchester. Each particular market has a different offer depend- The different occupier bases in the The office sector under performed ing on various characteristics such as core city centre and out-of-town the retail and industrial sectors in environment and location. office markets influenced the levels 2003 in terms of rental growth and of demand during 2002 and 2003. total return, but a cautious recovery South Manchester: This market The city centres have largely seen started in late 2003 and is expected has traditionally provided the traditional office occupiers, such to continue into 2004 strongest out-of-town market as financial and business services due to its locational advantages, and the government/public sector, Congestion continues to be a key being close to Manchester Air- maintain underlying steady demand, feature in a number of office cen- port, benefiting from its motor- while the out-of-town markets have tres, and the majority of major cities way links and traditionally having suffered from a lack of demand in the UK suffer from congestion the most prosperous suburbs from the Telecommunications Me- on the roads. In a move to begin close to Manchester.

-39- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Salford Quays: As an office loca- including Bury, has historically market it was either let prior to tion this was created in the mid been difficult to quantify as very or within 3 months of com- to late 1980s following its des- little new stock has come to pletion. The best example is ignation as an Enterprise Zone. the market. Many footloose probably the first phase of the Numerous developers built large enquiries that would prefer to Castlebrook scheme which let to speculative office schemes with be located in North Manchester Flights Direct (a subsidiary of the expectation of boom levels have either located in inferior Thomson Holidays) who took of take-up and large relocations second-hand accommodation 19,300 sq ft at £13.50 on a 15 from the South East of Eng- or have been forced to consider year lease and to First National land. This was never realised other locations around Manches- Bank who took the second and massive voids only dimin- ter or along the M62 closer to building also comprising 19,000 ished in the late 1990’s. Metro- the Leeds conurbation. There is sq ft on a fifteen year lease at link has helped this and the little doubt that the lack of sup- £12.75 per sq ft. Keogh Ritson market is now stable comprising ply has also frustrated occupiers Solicitors also took 44,000 sq ft mostly fairly modern space with in North Manchester causing at Parklands Business Park, Mid- good occupancy levels. Salford occupiers to stay within existing dlebrook. Quays over the last few years has accommodation. The develop- shown take-up levels of between ment of the mixed use Kingsway From King Sturge’s own demand / 100,000 sq ft and 175,000 sq ft site on the M62 will be a major enquiry database, there have been per annum. source of new supply immedi- a total of 54 enquiries for offices ately to the east of the Borough in North Manchester over 5,000 sq Warrington: This is now an es- over the next decade. ft since 1999. This represents a po- tablished office location close to tential demand of between 950,000 Manchester. Originally a hand- North Manchester has largely and 1,300,000 sq ft although a ful of science and technology been ignored as an area to number of these enquiries would based companies dominated the develop offices. However, with have started off as Greater Man- area. Its status as a New Town, continuing strong demand in chester enquiries rather than being coupled with the advantages of other out-of-town locations, de- specific to North Manchester only. fast access to three motorways mographic advantages, untapped and strategic location between labour supply and the comple- The Bury and Radcliffe Office Liverpool and Manchester, tion of the M60, together with Market - Bury as a Borough does has caused the area to develop the lack of new out-of-town not have what would be recognised rapidly. As a consequence office provision of office space, North as a real “in town” office market. take-up levels have increased Manchester is now recognised as Demand for office accommodation year on year. an area where pent up demand in North Manchester has tradition- is likely to exist. During 1999 ally come from local occupiers North Manchester: Demand in / 2000 whenever new office seeking expansion space. There are the North Manchester market accommodation came to the limited numbers of enquiries from

-40- corporate occupiers who tend to be tive office development. In the current market Radcliffe is less location driven. Bury’s office unlikely to experience any signifi- stock is generally comprised of ac- Within the Borough, plans for cant demand for new build office commodation above retail premises future development include both accommodation considering the and in converted town houses. schemes for smaller scale office ac- limited number of enquiries from There have been a few small mod- commodation and larger office park corporate occupiers and the more ern office schemes constructed in schemes. These schemes are likely suitable sites that are available in the last 10 years. These are mainly to located at sites in central Bury Bury. The local demand for accom- located at the edge of centre loca- and around Pilsworth. A scheme modation is likely to be met by the tions. Office buildings offering of 30,000 sq ft at The Waterfold current stock although there could refurbished suites of between 2,000 site on Junction 2 of the M66 is be some demand for small modern - 2,500 sq ft are achieving rents in currently under construction and units for owner occupation. the region of £6 per sq ft, on the will provide units of 2,000 sq ft, basis of three or five year leases. which could be joined as larger Conclusions - At present the main The majority of office accommo- units. Although relatively close to source of demand in the Borough dation in Radcliffe is situated as Bury Town Centre, The Waterfold for office floor space is for small with Bury above town centre retail site falls with the administrative (less than 5,000 sq ft) self contained premises or as a small element of boundaries of Rochdale. In addition and freehold premises for local industrial developments where an the third phase of the Castlebrook businesses. It is unlikely, however, office facility is required. There is Business Park at Pilsworth is ex- that a developer would speculatively little modern purpose built office pected to commence in 2004. It has pursue a scheme in Radcliffe. Any accommodation in the town. been identified that smaller units such development is likely to occur in this size range are particularly in only where schemes are commis- Within the Borough rental levels demand in Bury at present. sioned on an individual basis. are clearly higher on more recently constructed office floor space. Hilton House on Irwell Street, Bury a three-storey purpose built office building, of approximately 1,700 sq ft was let at a rent of £10 per sq ft on a 10-year lease. On a suite of 2,076 sq ft, a passing rent of £11.94 sq ft was achieved. These relatively low rental levels could work in favour of the North Manchester and Bury office market, in attracting companies to relocate to the area. However, it is doubtful whether these values would justify specula-

-41- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

towns and cities. Drivers Jonas’ pessimistic demand assessment reflected this since developers and operators are not generally look- ing for expansion opportunities at present.

Health and fitness - Drivers Jonas have identified 12 health and fitness clubs in the Bury catchment area, and estimated that the potential demand for membership could increase by a further 50% (approxi- mately 5,000 members) by 2006. They are of the view that this ad- Leisure uses over the last year by two significant ditional scope could be taken up by The UK leisure market has seen factors; events in the United States the Whitefield Total Fitness scheme substantial growth over recent years, and the effects of the foot and currently under construction. They mainly through multiplex cinemas, mouth epidemic. However, the therefore conclude that there is no health clubs, bowling alleys and budget hotel market continues to demand for further private health new restaurants/bar developments. expand largely driven by the busi- and fitness club facilities unless a While cinema development has ness market. ‘higher value’ facility was provided slowed significantly, there continues within the Borough. to be growth in health and fitness Cinema - Drivers Jonas’ in their and restaurants and bars remain the retail study of Bury (July 2002) Restaurants, pubs and bars - most popular activity with opera- assessed the likely demand for addi- Radcliffe’s evening economy is tors continually seeking the next big tional cinema screens in Bury. There centred around several drinking idea, such as theme bars or target is only one cinema complex within establishments in and around the branding. Companies specialising in the catchment area of the town, town centre and three restaurants. fitness centres have embarked upon this is a 12 screen facility operated The majority of the drinking estab- substantial expansion programmes by Warner Village at Park 66 in lishments are privately owned public and are still seeking further de- Pilsworth. houses with the exception of ‘The velopment opportunities. Recent Lock Keeper’ situated on Stand research shows members of such Nationally the rapid expansion of Lane adjacent to the river. As the facilities account for 3.2% of the multiplex cinemas appears to be Drivers Jonas report identifies for UK population and this is predicted based on an over optimistic fore- Bury Town Centre, there is also a to rise significantly. The hotel and cast of cinema admission and this lack of non-alcohol focused leisure tourist market has been impacted has led to an over-supply in certain facilities within Radcliffe. Within

-42- Radcliffe town centre there are Family leisure facilities - The only This would add some less alcohol only three restaurants. The existing leisure facility of this type within orientated facilities to the evening drinking establishments primarily the Bury catchment area is the economy and attract a greater diver- attract the 18-34 year old age group. Megabowl at Park 66. This facil- sity of the population in terms of ity absorbs all the capacity for this age group, to use the town centre Whilst there are a significant type of activity within the Bury/ in the evening, which would help to number of public houses in Rad- Radcliffe catchment area. The increase the vitality and viability of cliffe, we are aware that the industry Borough lacks a Bingo facility. It is the town. considers that Manchester City understood that those residents that Centre is approaching saturation do participate in this activity, travel The demand for other leisure uses and that more attention is being outside the catchment area to Bol- including health and fitness, cinema focussed on the affluent commuter ton and Middleton. We are aware and hotels are met by facilities else- towns. Whilst Bury is more likely that operators Mecca are seeking to where within the Borough. Whilst to be targeted by the major public find a site in or close to Bury town the provision of such facilities in house and bar chains it is possible centre. Radcliffe would undoubtedly be that Radcliffe may receive some welcomed by residents, there is attention especially as most of the Hotels - There are approximately insufficient demand to support current establishment are not part 25 large bed and breakfast inns and additional facilities alongside those of the larger groups and brands. small private hotels in the Borough. which already exist. The only large hotels in the area As identified there are only three are The Village Hotel at Waterfold independent restaurants within the Business Park adjacent to Junc- town centre, although there are tion 2 on the M66 and Prestwich. several take away food outlets. The It would appear that the budget independent restaurant trade is hotel operators are reasonably well more difficult to analyse and will, in provided for either on or adjoining large, be driven by trade generated the motorway network and that the by other leisure uses, the quality Borough itself probably has suffi- of the surrounding environment cient traditional accommodation for and the proximity of other similar its current business needs. facilities. Therefore, improvements to the retail and leisure offer in the Conclusions - Considering the size town centre and improvements to and role of Radcliffe in the Bor- the environment of the centre will ough, the additional leisure facilities do much to encourage investment which it could support and which in new eating facilities. are at the current time limited, are primarily a greater selection of restaurants including café bars etc.

-43- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Industrial market fact that companies remain relatively area. Radcliffe has a greater availabil- The National Context - Examina- cautious against a background of ity of employment sites compared tion of the current UK industrial flat economic activity and continu- to those in the central Bury areas market reveals a mixed picture. Al- ing uncertainties. and has some of the larger available though the overall level of avail- industrial sites within the Borough. able space in completed buildings The North West Industrial Mar- increased again in the third quarter ket - The total amount of available Rochdale and Oldham have expe- of 2003, the rate of increase slowed floor space in the North West stood rienced more speculative develop- down and was comparatively mod- at 26.60 million sq ft at August 2003. ment than that experienced in Bury est compared to earlier in the year. This represented a fall of –1.5% as a whole. This is in part due to the Further, the total level of available since April 2003. Floor space avail- proximity of many sites, particularly floor space in completed build- able in large units over 107,640 sq in Rochdale, to the M62 motorway. ings fell in three UK regions. The ft decreased by 0.8 % and available Further, a key reason for there being overall amount of floor space being new floor space decreased by 9.9% more speculative industrial develop- developed on a speculative basis in in line with the second quarter of ment in Rochdale and Oldham is September 2003 totalled 6,204,466 the year. The level of speculative that there has been a greater avail- sq ft representing on increase of development in the North West has ability of grant funding available 13.1% since April 2003 remained steady since the previous in these areas. There has been little quarter with around 851,465 sq ft public sector funding available to On the demand side, the continuous currently under construction in eight support industrial development in ‘two speed’ economy, with manu- schemes. the Borough of Bury. facturing in the doldrums, partly explains the divergence between The Bury and Radcliffe Industri- Despite the low levels of speculative demand related to manufacturing al Market - There has been a gen- development in Bury, a speculative and the demand related to distribu- eral reduction in demand over the scheme was recently completed at tion. The former has been fairly last 12 months. The lettings market Dumers Lane providing six indus- subdued, although interest rates has been quieter and the freehold trial units ranging from 3,000 to have encouraged good demand market stronger due to low interest 6,000 sq ft. Whilst this scheme is for freeholds. The demand for rates. The Bury manufacturing base in located within the Bury ward of large new distribution units, which has shrunk considerably in the last Unsworth, its proximity to Radcliffe is dominated by design and build 10 - 20 years. Demand for indus- provides an indication of devel- transactions, reached a record high trial property is therefore relatively oper confidence in this area. This in 2002 with some 19,989 million sq low. There is, however, a reason- confidence in demand is supported ft of take-up. However, levels of able demand from smaller specialist by local agents who believe that take up have slowed in 2003. This companies. Lack of demand and there is a reasonable level of pent up slowdown can be partly attributed to product is put down to the fact that local demand for small units in the an increased supply of large second there has never been a good avail- Borough, from both owner-occupi- hand buildings but it also reflects the ability of industrial sites in the Bury ers and tenants. If suitable industrial

-44- accommodation were developed the Borough of Bury of which 7 case with regard to enquiries for providing units between 700 - 1,500 were specific to Bury. The majority industrial premises in the Borough sq ft, it is believed there would of the 56 enquiries were general of Bury generally. be a good level of local demand. enquiries for accommodation in the The likely demand would be from Borough, although 9 specifically Considering tenure, 3 of the Rad- owner-occupiers looking for an were for Radcliffe among other lo- cliffe specific enquiries were for investment purchase and those look- cations and 3 of the 9 were uniquely freehold accommodation and 6 ing for higher quality rented accom- for Radcliffe. The other locations with for either freehold or lease- modation. were generally towns in the north hold. These figures suggest to some of Manchester, the most frequently extent there is currently greater There is a lack of industrial accom- recorded were Whitefield, Prest- demand for freehold accommoda- modation at accessible motorway wich, Rochdale and Bolton. Of the tion. The size of accommodation sites in the Bury area. This seems to Radcliffe specific enquiries, 8 came being sought through the enquir- be due to competition from other from companies located in Greater ies ranged from 2,000 to 40,000 sectors, with many well-located sites Manchester and Lancashire with sq ft, although the majority of the being developed for office, leisure one from outside of the region. The Radcliffe enquiries were in the 7,000 and retail uses. The table below majority of the Greater Manches- – 20,000 sq ft range. It should be shows the enquiries received by ter enquiries were from the north pointed out that King Sturge’s data King Sturge for industrial accom- of Manchester. According to these probably excludes many enquiries at modation in Bury in 2003 enquiries demand for industrial the lower end of the scale. Speak- premises in Radcliffe is generally ing with local agents they confirm a King Sturge Enquiries - As can be from within the region and indeed healthy demand for premises in the seen there were a total of 56 enquir- from neighbouring districts or from 3,000 - 15,000 sq ft range. ies received in 2003 for premises in within Bury itself. This is also the Conclusions - Discussions with local agents suggest that Bury has Type of enquiry Number not benefited from industrial de- velopment largely due to a lack of Total no. of enquiries for Bury 56 available industrial sites. Radcliffe Total Bury only enquiries 7 does not benefit from immediate Total Radcliffe enquiries 9 access to the motorway network Total ‘Radcliffe only’ enquiries 3 and therefore is unlikely to benefit Total leasehold 9 from large inward investments TOTAL 56 or from the current demand for Radcliffe enquiries Radcliffe enquiries freehold 3 Radcliffe enquiries either freehold or leasehold 6 King Sturge industrial enquiries for Bury (2003), TOTAL 9 Source: King Sturge, 2004

-45- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

large logistic/distribution facilities. industrial units may be marginal i.e. We have identified a demand for there could be a need for grant as- premises in the range of 3,000 sq sistance. Given the lack of available ft to 15,000 sq ft mainly from local grant in Bury, the Council could companies (e.g. Bury, North Man- increase their stock of industrial chester, Bolton and Rochdale) who land and premises by creative use of are either seeking to expand or con- the Section 106 agreement process solidate and/or wish to purchase when affecting change of land use their own property whilst interest from industrial to residential. rates are low to provide a “pen- sion fund”. This demand comes from companies who both want to purchase their own property and those who want to build their own premises. It is, therefore, important that suitable land is made available to provide for this requirement and to have land available for the development of larger units if these can be pre-let. Work carried out on the Bury Employment Opportuni- ties Study has identified that the speculative development of smaller

-46- 6. Town centre health check

In which we look at the performance of retail- ing in Radcliffe town centre based on King Sturge’s Health check.

Introduction Finally, conclusions will be reached the three month trend rates of In the last chapter we considered which will help guide the prepara- growth decreased from 4.3% to demand for different uses in Rad- tion of the vision and masterplan. 3.2% for total sales. It is felt that cliffe. In this chapter we will look growth rates peaked at the end of specifically at retailing and how de- In July 2002 Bury Council received 2001 and there were positive but cisions on the future of retail provi- a Retail Report prepared by Drivers slow growth rates into the middle sion will have a major influence on Jonas. This study will be used as a of 2003 when the declining growth the health and vitality of Radcliffe principal source of information for trend started to reverse. town centre. As context this section this section but we will also draw will look at: upon King Sturge’s own research Within this macro-economic en- and market knowledge and infor- vironment a number of trends are the national and regional retail- mation from discussions with key apparent which have implications ing trends, developers. for town centres. These can be summarised as follows: Radcliffe’s position in the retail National and Regional Trends hierarchy of the Borough and Despite having faced two recessions Shoppers are no longer content will examine the structure of the over the last 20 years, the retailing with purchasing good quality retail provision within the town, industry has experienced consider- goods but now are increasingly able growth. This growth has taken requiring a high quality pleasant the health of the centre using place despite uncertainties caused environment in which to shop. the criteria set out in Planning by changes in demographics, in- Policy Guidance Note 6, creasingly restrictive planning poli- Secondary retail frontages are cies and a technological revolution. being affected by Sunday open- the capacity for further expan- Perhaps because of these trends, re- ings as these premises are nor- sion in the centre and any weak- cent statistics indicate a slow down mally occupied by independents nesses that may be preventing in the retail sector. Figures released that generally do not trade on the centre from developing and by the British Retail Consortium a Sunday and the resulting lack improving. (January 04) show that overall sales of footfall affects those that do were up 2.33% on a total basis on open. the previous year’s figure, however,

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Town 2003 Vitality Radcliffe Shopping Centre reflective of recent improvements Score Other than Bury, Radcliffe is the to the centre including the improved Radcliffe 49 largest of the three other centres in convenience offer. Heywood located Bury 180 the Borough i.e. Radcliffe, Prestwich, approximately 4 miles from Radcliffe Whitefield 36 Ramsbottom. Radcliffe has good in Rochdale is a useful comparable to Prestwich 52 connections to Bury town centre Radcliffe as it is of a similar size and Heywood 54 and Manchester City Centre by tram provides similar functions to Rad- Source: Experian Goad (2003) but is more isolated than the other cliffe. Heywood has a vitality score Opening hours are generally smaller centres in the Borough from of 54, which is slightly higher than extending for both shops and the motorway network. Like Bury, Radcliffe. for pubs. the tram provides a mixed blessing for the town as it provides access Radcliffe has a total shopping area High Street comparison goods to the centre for shoppers from the of 350,000 sq ft with 42 multiple retailers are finding that they need neighbouring towns but also pro- outlets and 35 independent compari- to improve financial performance vides easy access to other centres. son outlets. The majority of floor by cutting costs and improving Bury town centre is less than 10 min- space is contained to the east of the the range of goods made avail- utes drive away and Bolton less than by-pass with the exception of the able to customers through their 15 minutes. The Trafford Centre Asda superstore and a few independ- existing stores. The response to and City Centre Manchester are also ent outlets located to the edge of the this has been to move to larger within easy reach. Metrolink will centre. units either by relocating or by carry a shopper from Radcliffe to the expanding into storage space city centre in less than 20 minutes. Radcliffe town centre has mainly such as basements and first attracted middle / low-end retailers. floors. Using Experian Goad Retail Centre The only exception being Boots and Vitality Ranking Score, information Ethel Austin as national multiple The major convenience retailers are on the ranking of centres based retailers. The largest space users in introducing smaller format stores to on the number of retail outlets, Radcliffe’s main shopping area of respond to the trend towards urban floor space and the number of key the town centre are Dunelm and living particularly in the larger towns attractors, Radcliffe is seen to have Kwik Save and a number of inde- and cities and to provide a service to a comparatively low score indicat- pendent retailers and the market, office workers. These new formats ing low vitality. Bury has a signifi- which account for the majority of like Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco cantly higher score which reflects the centre’s floor space. Metro are usually no larger than the greater range of retail outlets 25,000 sq ft in size. and higher quality shopping environ- Radcliffe town centre is concentrated ment. The neighbouring centre of around Dale Street, Blackburn Street, Whitefield has a lower vitality score Stand Lane, Church Street West than Radcliffe, whilst Prestwich and Deansgate. The central shop- has a slightly higher score, which is ping area of the town is focused on

-48- Blackburn Street where there is a mix Retail Type Total Floor Percentage of Total of retail and service uses such as travel Space sq ft Floor Space Convenience agents, hairdressers, banks, and estate 17,588 5% Comparison 127,887 39% agents. These outlets are located within Service/Miscellaneous 122,311 38% a 2 and 3 storey 1960’s development Vacant 53,626 18 % which houses retail accommodation to Total 324,351 100% the ground floor and storage space to Source: Bury MBC the upper floors. This development has seen little investment over recent years Radcliffe market is housed within Health of the centre and gives the town centre a dated and the Market Hall, accessed from Planning Policy Guidance Note 6, tired image. Blackburn Street. Although there ‘Town Centres and Retail Develop- is some variety of comparison ments’ sets out a number of indica- Dale Street, which leads into the main and convenience goods offered, tors by which local planning authori- shopping area from Pilkington Way to the Market Hall lacks the atmos- ties should assess the health of their the west, has a number of small inde- phere and vibrancy required to at- town centres. This includes diversity pendent retail units and a number of tract large numbers of customers. of uses, retail representation, shop- vacant units, which provide a poor im- Radcliffe market has to compete ping rents, proportion of vacant age to this section of the retail centre. with Bury market in attracting street level property, commercial customers from further afield. yields, pedestrian footfall, accessibil- Stand Lane provides access to the town Bury market is a significantly ity, customer views and behaviour, centre from the south and is charac- larger and particularly successful perceptions of safety and crime and terised by non-retail units and again a market with a large diversity of the environmental quality of the high proportion of vacant units. The stalls and a waiting list of traders Town Centre. majority of the town centre’s pubs who want to have a stall. With and restaurants are located on Stand this competition it is unlikely that In their retail study Drivers Jonas Lane creating a focus for the evening there is the capacity in the area to carried out such an analysis and economy. enable Radcliffe market to grow concluded that Radcliffe does not significantly in size. However, display strong indicators of vital- Church Street West runs from the there is potential to increase local ity or viability. The key factors they Market Hall to the north east of the interest and visitor spend at the pinpointed were: main shopping area of the town centre. market through improving its In the main core of the town centre the surrounding environment and the There are extremely high num- outlets on this street are mainly inde- overall ‘market shopping experi- bers of vacant units and a limited pendent retailers as well as some vacant ence’ which is likely to create choice and range of retail provi- units. To the edge of the main shop- increased demand by traders to sion. ping area and beyond there are also a have a stall at the market. number of fast food outlets on Church Representation by both conven- Street West. ience and comparison retailers

-49- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

is limited to discount and lower are not willing to consider locating with both town centre and edge of order retailers and the centre an outlet in Radcliffe town centre centre facilities being sufficient in all does not project a particularly due to two main factors. Firstly, four centres. Their assessment did high quality image to shoppers. because of the poor image that not make any quantitative comment the town centre presents and the on comparison capacity in Radcliffe The edge-of-centre Asda low footfall count. Secondly, as but rather concluded that Radcliffe performs an important role as explained, the majority of mul- is a centre in need of investment a main-food shopping destina- tiple retailers have requirements and needs to take advantage of any tion in the area but there does for units in excess of 1,200 sq ft, development opportunities. not appear to be a high level which the centre is unable to offer. of combined trips to the town London and Associated Properties Convenience provision in Radcliffe centre from Asda shoppers. have indicated that they would be is met primarily by the Asda Super- interested in becoming involved in store located on the by-pass and A further factor that is consid- activities that lead to the develop- Kwik Save located within the main ered to have limited the success ment of larger scale units in Rad- shopping area of the town cen- of Radcliffe as a shopping centre cliffe given that pre-lets to the right tre. Kwik Save is currently located is the relatively small floor area of sort of retailers could be achieved. within a former cinema building, the majority of existing units in the With the current layout of the town which in its current state of repair, town. Multiple retailers require units centre there is little scope for either contributes to the poor image of generally of at least 1,200 sq ft for developing new, larger units or the town centre. The importance smaller sized outlets but more ide- re-organising the existing ones to of having a convenience store ally units of approximately 2,000 sq create larger units. located in the town centre is evident ft or units of 5,000 - 6,000 sq ft for in terms of attracting people into more expansive floor space users. Capacity for Expansion the centre for multi-purpose trips The majority of town centre units Drivers Jonas in their Retail Study including visits to comparison in Radcliffe are less than 1,200 sq for Bury identified the potential and service outlets such so as to ft with many between 500 – 1,000 capacity of the town centre for make an overall contribution to the sq ft. comparison and convenience retail- vibrancy of the town centre. The ing based upon detailed analysis of provision of new modern premises London and Associated Properties available expenditure at 2002/2006/ for the Kwik Save store in the town PLC are owners of much of the 2008/2011 taking into account the centre would add to the vitality and town centre’s retail units in what is turnover of existing and approved vibrancy of the town centre. known as the ‘shopping centre’ area stores within the centre. The study on Blackburn Street/Dale Street. reported that the town centres Their experience of managing and of Bury, Prestwich, Radcliffe letting these units has been that and Ramsbottom all have strong multiple retailers and their agents quantitative convenience provision

-50- Conclusions parking is important for the Radcliffe functions as a shop- health of the centre. ping centre that draws most of its trade from the town and its In this respect, the location and immediate hinterland. The prox- environment of the Market Hall imity of Bury town centre and could improve the attractiveness the easy access to Manchester of the market, as could the re- City Centre inhibits any signifi- location of the Kwik Save store cant growth of the centre. out of the former cinema. The relocation of these two facili- To support existing businesses ties would free up a potentially and to attract new retailers to attractive riverside development establish in the town, it will be site. necessary to grow the catchment population of the centre, i.e. by Further environmental improve- bringing more people to live and ments are required to improve to work close to the centre. This the image and appearance of the will increase the viability of ex- town centre. isting premises enabling them to reinvest in, and perhaps expand their shops.

In order to attract a greater range of retailers to locate in the town a larger number of retail units over 1,200 sq ft should be made available in the town centre.

Key “anchors” in the func- tioning of the town centre are the Asda superstore and to a lesser extent the Market Hall, the Dunelm store and the Kwik Save. The ease and attractive- ness of linkages between each of these facilities as well as car

-51- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

-52- 7. Access to the town centre

In which we describe the transport assessment undertaken by Transport Planning Partnership (TPP). It reviews existing transport conditions and facilities within the vicinity of Radcliffe town centre and determines overall future conditions, trends and the transport implications of future changes within the town centre. The report goes on to recommend how transport improvements could be implemented in order to support the emerging regeneration strategy.

Introduction the city centre and the motorway now provides a frequent service Radcliffe town centre is located network, resulting in regular severe between Bury and, via on street within the Borough of Bury, ap- congestion at peak periods. running, into and through the cen- proximately 3 miles southwest of Proposals to provide for these tre of Manchester to Altrincham. Bury Town Centre, 5 miles south- traffic demands by means of major The map in plan 16 (next page) east of Bolton centre and 7 miles highway construction through the shows the existing overall transport northwest of Manchester City Irwell valley were abandoned in network. Centre. The strategic importance the 1970s, and congestion prob- The town centre itself is compact of the Radcliffe Bridge crossing of lems were addressed instead by the and pedestrianisation of the central the Irwell, which gave rise to the development of a smaller scale local shopping street has allowed the early growth of the town centre, is by-pass of the town centre. development of a reasonably safe still significant in transport terms Of equal if not greater significance and convenient pedestrian circula- today. Development in the latter historically has been the develop- tion system in the central area. The part of the last century of large ment of the railway link between bus station is located immediately residential areas to the north and Bury and Manchester. The former adjacent to the town centre and the west of the town centre resulted in electrified commuter service into Metrolink Station located approxi- increasing volumes of commuter Manchester Victoria Station was mately 500 m to the east of the traffic through the town and across converted in the early 1990s to the main shopping area. The town cen- the only available river crossing to Metrolink light rail system, which tre provides adequate free parking

-53- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

Plan 16: Transport within Greater Manchester for both short and long stay users. Each of these issues has been also been introduced in order to The analysis of the operation and investigated and is reviewed in the prevent traffic travelling through the future development of the trans- following sections of this report. main shopping area and improve port system in the town centre has conditions for pedestrians. The by- focussed on the following five key The by-pass pass has allowed (and to an extent issues: Construction of the A665 Pilk- encouraged) traffic to travel through ington Way by-pass has relieved Inner Radcliffe, from Manchester, The by-pass and the associated congestion on Blackburn Street Bolton and Bury, while avoiding pedestrianisation of the town through the main shopping area of the main shopping area. Plan 17 il- centre the town, resulting in a reduction lustrates existing traffic flows on the in pollution and an improvement main routes within the town. Walking and accessibility in the safety and environmental quality of the area for pedestrians. Recent observations and reports The bus station and the bus Pilkington Way passes to the west show that congestion continues to routes through the town centre of the town centre from the Water occur at the Water Street / Spring Street / Spring Lane / Abden Lane / Abden Street junction and Metrolink – particularly the links Street junction to the Stand Lane on Blackburn Street but, on the between the Metrolink station / Radcliffe New Road junction. whole, the by-pass has reduced de- and the town centre Pedestrianisation of part of Black- lays and improved journey times for burn Street, from the junction with vehicles travelling through the area Car parking quantity and quality Railway Street and Dale Street, has and has helped to attract develop-

-54- ment such as the Asda store and well used by bus passengers wish- for car users whose journey purpose McDonalds restaurant to the west ing to visit Asda. Plan 18 illustrates is to use facilities within Radcliffe it- side of the town. the results of a pedestrian survey, self and discouraging casual visitors. There are, however, some problems conducted on 8th May 2003, which In order to address these problems, associated with the by-pass, espe- shows how pedestrian movements the possibility of allowing some cially for pedestrians and cyclists. are currently distributed between traffic to travel through the town Despite good quality pedestrian the various crossing points. centre retail area has been consid- crossings at major junctions across There is also a perception that the ered. One way in which this could Pilkington Way, in the form of at- centre of the town has become less be achieved would be by reopening grade and subway facilities, there are accessible and less apparent to car the whole of Blackburn Street to severance problems that exist for drivers. The combination of the traffic by removing the pedestri- pedestrians and cyclists. There is an by-pass alignment, junction design, anised area or allowing its use for apparent reluctance for visitors to signage and the pedestrianisation some classes of traffic. The crucial the Asda store to cross Pilkington of a section of Blackburn Street issue is whether this can be achieved Way to visit the town centre shops directs traffic around and away from in an acceptable manner, which – although the crossings seem to be the town centre, causing difficulties does not lose the benefits to the

Plan 17: traffic flow in inner Radcliffe

-55- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

town centre environment, which the day only (e.g. off-peak periods) Street junction, the Strand Lane present arrangements have brought / Radcliffe New Road junction about. Re-opening to certain user types and at the Blackburn Street / (e.g. access only) Pilkington Way junction. Like many town centre by-pass schemes, Pilkington Way provides Controlling journey times along A review of signage on routes a longer route for through vehi- the re-opened route to ensure approaching Radcliffe town cen- cles than the old route, Blackburn the attractiveness of the by-pass tre would need to be undertaken Street / Stand Lane, which it now in order direct traffic destined replaces. Its success in attracting A combination of the above for the town centre clearly along traffic away from the town centre is Blackburn Street / Spring Lane at the moment guaranteed, because Following adoption of a chosen whilst traffic passing through the pedestrianisation scheme on strategy, a detailed design pro- would continue to be directed Blackburn Street has removed the gramme of implementation meas- along Pilkington Way. option of using the old route. A ures will need to be undertaken. possible re-opening of Blackburn The elements of this programme Re-opening of Blackburn Street Street should aim to preserve as far will vary, depending on which strat- to traffic would have a signifi- as possible the benefits to the town egy or combination of strategies is cant impact on pedestrian and centre the by-pass has brought. A adopted, but the following measures cycling accessibility in the town number of alternative strategies will need to be considered: centre. It would be important to would therefore need to be consid- determine how Blackburn Street ered, including the following: In order to allow car users to can be reopened to traffic with- make an appropriate choice out causing safety, accessibility Re-opening to certain classes of route, depending on their and environmental problems of vehicle only, e.g. buses, taxis, journey purpose, some junc- for walkers and cyclists. Further cyclists tion redesign measures may be pedestrian facilities may be nec- required, especially for the Water essary across Blackburn Street Re-opening at certain times of Street / Spring Lane / Abden to promote walking within the

-56- town centre. Consideration of specific walking routes, such as those for school children walk- ing to and from school would help to accommodate special pedestrian cases.

In order to determine the exact type, location and feasibility of measures required and the po- tential effect of re-development proposals on the design, more detailed survey information and analysis will be necessary, espe- cially in terms of congestion and safety. Plan 18: pedestrian movements along Pilkington Way Metrolink The Metrolink Station is an impor- visitors to Radcliffe to make use of dale, East Manchester and Ashton- tant facility for the town, allow- the town. Plan 19 illustrates that, under-Lyne and South Manchester ing easy access to and from Bury, although there has been growth in and Manchester Airport lines. This Manchester and the rest of the passenger use of Radcliffe station, expansion will increase the oppor- Metrolink network. Tram services this has been built on an already tunity for new arrivals at Radcliffe to the Metrolink station at Radcliffe substantial pre-existing passenger station but it will also increase the Station operate at 6 minute intervals demand. The increases in Radcliffe accessibility of other towns in the throughout the working day and on boarding figures from 1990 (the Greater Manchester area for com- Saturdays with less frequent services last full recorded year of heavy rail muting residents. – typically at 12 minute intervals - at operation) and 2001 were from Analysis of survey data from the other periods (e.g. early morning, just under 500 to just under 600 year 2000 demonstrated that the evening and Sundays). A compari- in the morning peak period and park-and-ride facility at the Metro- son of rail (pre-1992) and Metrolink from about 150 to just over 200 link station is very well used, espe- patronage at Radcliffe is shown in in the off peak period. Over the cially by Metrolink users wishing Plan 19. There is a perception that next decade, the existing Metrolink to commute into Manchester City the development of Metrolink has network, consisting of the Bury to Centre and Bury. A high propor- helped the residents of Radcliffe to Altrincham and Manchester to Ec- tion of parking spaces are taken access employment and facilities in cles lines to date, is to be expanded by commuters from other parts other parts of the conurbation, but across Greater Manchester with the of the Bury Borough and the car has not necessarily helped to attract creation of the Oldham to Roch- park generally fills up quickly in the

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Mode of Percentage using Radcliffe Transport Metrolink Station (%) layout is questionable, not least be- Car 53 cause none of the bus services cur- Pedestrians 37 rently using it actually terminates at Bus 7 Radcliffe. Amendments to the bus Taxi 2 Other 1 station and to bus routing through the town centre have therefore been morning and is usually close to full the station, cycling storage facilities considered, especially in view of a by 8.30 am on most weekdays. Data could be introduced at the station. possible revision to the pedestriani- from the GMPTE shows the cur- Further details of pedestrian and sation of Blackburn Street referred rent modal split of Metrolink users cycle accessibility are discussed in to earlier. It is very important that at Radcliffe Station above. the section walking and cycling in any changes in bus facilities retain Improvements in links between the this chapter. the existing capacity and a degree existing bus network and the Metro- Further improvements are possible of additional capacity to provide the link station have been considered to improve the general appearance potential for future growth. Plans in order to improve integration be- of the Metrolink facility and areas 20 and 21 show existing and pro- tween the two modes of transport. of the town visible from trams posed bus route networks through Options include the addition of a entering and exiting the station. Any the town. The proposed option bus stop close to the Metrolink sta- regeneration of Inner Radcliffe can involves replacing the existing bus tion and changes to some existing be supported and reinforced using terminal with modern, high quality bus routes to allow transfer between advertising and marketing initiatives bus stop sites, in the town centre both modes, especially for pas- on the trams themselves. and at the Metrolink station, with a sengers from areas such as Bolton, route developed for buses through to allow them greater access to the Buses the existing Metrolink car park, Metrolink network. Further details The bus station is very accessible improving visibility and accessibility of proposed bus route options are from the main shopping area and is of buses and improving transport discussed in the following sections. linked to retail development, such as connections between the Metrolink Pedestrian access to the station is Asda, on the other side of the Pilk- station and the town centre. Al- generally good but access problems ington Way by-pass with pedestrian though a small number of car park exist to the east of the station, facilities available. It is essential for spaces would be lost at the station, which is particularly relevant in the bus stops to remain easily accessible these would be partially offset by context of the proposed redevel- to the town centre (focussed on the the development of alternative opment of the East Lancashire Blackburn Street / Church Street additional parking facilities by the Paper Mill site. Options to improve West / Stand Lane junction), to the PTE at Whitefield and Bury. Metrolink Station accessibility for Metrolink station and to the east pedestrians involve the addition of side of the by-pass. Any future bus facilities and routes a walkway directly from the station need to serve future development down to the park area below. To However, the suitability of the proposals, with bus stops and routes improve conditions for cyclists at existing bus station location and located close to future development

-58- initiatives. In some cases, further work is required to improve bus accessibility. In other cases, such as at the Coney Green site and Town centre sites, bus and/or tram facili- ties are already located close by. Subject to a more detailed feasibility assessment, design and consultation with operators it should be feasible to produce a redesigned facility, which retains adequate capacity. Plan 19: Traffic flow in inner Radcliffe Any alterations to bus facilities will need to be implemented in partner- ship with key users from schools and large workplaces within the town.

Walking and Cycling Walking facilities - Walking facilities within the town centre and surrounding areas are gener- ally of a good standard but further improvements will be necessary to make any proposed development as accessible as possible by pedestrians Plan 20: Existing local bus frequencies and cyclists. There are a number of elements within the Inner Radcliffe area that form barriers or cause de- lay to pedestrians and cyclists. The main problems of severance within the town are:

The Pilkington Way by-pass The River Irwell and Canal The Metrolink line

Plan 21: Future bus route option

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Further severance issues exist where areas of housing development or industry have no through access and so have to be circumnavigated.

In Plans 22 to 27 walking iso- chrones have been used to analyse and represent the area of catchment for key sites within the Radcliffe area (such as the Metrolink Station and main shopping area) and the proposed developments within this document. The process used to Plan 22: River Business quarter accessibility form the isochrones for each case has been described in the Isochrone methodology at the end of this chapter. The proposed alterations below have been chosen to demonstrate how improvements can be made to accessibility of the facilities within the town centre, especially in rela- tion to the proposed future sites designated for development.

Walking Accessibility Improve- Plan 23: SUN quarter accessibility ments include (all subject to design scrutiny):

Metrolink East Access Walkway to support East Lancs Paper/ Pioneer Mill sites

Bridge across river connecting Milltown Street to Church Street West at Radcliffe Times Build- ing to support Pioneer Mill, supplemented by access along

Plan 24: Canal quarter accessibility -60- river, connecting mill areas with Radcliffe Bridge

Connection of New Church Street / Crook Street etc to connect Radcliffe town centre to Metrolink Station and Radcliffe school pedestrian movements from Hindle Street across the bridge to Green Street / to New Church Street / to Crook Street / to the Metrolink station

Plan 25: Education quarter accessibility Improve pedestrian facilities at Water Street/Spring Lane in- corporating the traffic improve- ments at the junction to restrict traffic from Abden Street

Accessibility improvements across Pilkington Way, between Dale Street and Blackburn Street

The effects of re-routing traffic down Blackburn Street, through the main shopping area will need to be Plan 26: Strebor employment quarter accessibility designed and monitored carefully in order to make sure safety, accessibil- ity and environmental conditions do not become hazardous for the pedestrian and cyclist user. In some cases, it is important to cater for specific walking journeys through the town due to the frequency of use. This is the case for both Coney Green High School and Radcliffe High School where pupils during certain periods of the day may need

Plan 27: Future walking accessibility option -61- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

further facilities to assist in walking River and Canal Facilities Parking to other areas of the town. The existing relationship between Car parking facilities throughout the the town’s urban fabric and the town are plentiful and no charging Cycle facilities - Cycle lanes are many bodies of water surrounding exists at present in the Radcliffe required to connect up cycle routes it is poor. The Canal and River Ir- area. Over 650 off street public car that already exist within the Inner well run close to the Inner Radcliffe park spaces exist in the town centre Radcliffe area. Cycle lanes already area, and reservoirs exist at Cross with adequate short-term on street exist in certain parts of the town Lane but in most cases, buildings parking also available. The parking centre itself but further work is back onto either side of the canal stock varies considerably in terms necessary to form a cycle net- and river. There is great potential to of size, quality, accessibility and work through the town. This cycle develop a number of sites adjacent conditions of use but it is evident network could be integrated with to these areas for leisure and mixed that a degree of spare capacity ex- existing transport facilities, with, for use purposes. British Waterways ists. There are opportunities for de- example, the introduction of cycle Board is currently promoting a plan velopment on some of the existing storage facilities at the Metrolink to reinstate the canal from Man- car-parking sites and it is likely that station. chester, to Bury including a stretch the total off-street parking stock passing through the town centre. could be reduced without affecting

Plan 28: Town centre car parks -62- the economic viability of the town of Bury and Bolton but few enter from them, and in Radcliffe the centre. The future development Radcliffe Town Centre. There are Metrolink line and bus facilities pro- and expansion of the centre may plans to introduce new or improve vide a good base for new workers increase demand for car parking but existing park and ride facilities at and residents to use. It is necessary it would be possible to introduce the Bury, Whitefield and Prestwich that the road network is able to sup- some controls over the use of a Metrolink stops and this may reduce port additional traffic levels gener- more limited car park provision in use at the Radcliffe facility. If car ated from future development both order to give priority to short stay park demand increases it may be in terms of capacity and design, but users. In order to properly assess possible to increase the capacity of care should be taken to ensure that car parking availability throughout park-and-ride facilities at the Metro- additional road capacity does not the town centre, a detailed analysis link station on the Coney Green cause severance to any part of the of the usage all existing car parks High school site. community. Severance issues already would be needed in order to deter- exist in the town due to the size and mine how their location, size and Transport Assessment of configuration of Pilkington Way. As design can best support develop- Development Options a consequence, any development on ment. As part of the Greater Man- The location, density and nature the west side of Pilkington Way will chester Local Transport Plan, Bury of proposed development within need to be supported by improved Council wish to support sustainable Inner Radcliffe can cause traffic and connections to the town centre development in town centres by passenger levels to increase on the across Pilkington Way, especially promoting short stay parking in existing road network and public for walking and cycling. Develop- town centres and long stay parking transport links. In some develop- ments of all types need access to on the periphery. ment cases it may be necessary to other areas around Radcliffe such The park-and-ride facility adjacent make improvements in order to as Bury, Prestwich, Manchester and to the Metrolink station holds cater for development transport beyond (by both public transport approximately 260 spaces, includ- demand. Whatever development and road/motorway) but in order ing 14 disabled spaces and an area proposals are implemented it is to support Radcliffe itself, it is designated for motorbikes. Many important to try and promote use important to create specific links commuters travel from other parts of public transport facilities to and from any proposed developments

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to the town centre and to facilities individual proposed development as East Lancashire Paper Mill - This within it such as the main retail area, discussed below: would respresent a large develop- market and Metrolink Station. The ment with sizeable increases in closer development is positioned to Coney Green Neighbourhood traffic expected from residential and the town centre the greater chance - Road access to this site exists from school run sources. It is especially there is of people using these facili- Spring Lane, which has good con- important in this case to promote ties. Other existing and proposed nections to the main road network the use of public transport with the developments in order to retain the in Bury but suffers from localised possible inclusion of nearby bus character of existing neighbour- congestion problems during peak stop facilities supporting the devel- hoods and emphasise the character times. Further capacity improve- opment. of any proposed. The design of ments may be necessary to cope Walking access between the pro- transport networks and facilities with further development traffic. posed school site and Metrolink will within any proposed development This site has the advantage of be- need to be improved with special can determine how accessible a ing close to the Metrolink station consideration made for the large development is. It is necessary to de- but accessibility could be further groups of school pupils expected in sign all developments to allow easy improved with the addition of bet- the mornings and early afternoon. movement through in order to pro- ter pedestrian facilities across Spring Proposed walkway improvements mote accessibility and make the area Lane. Good connections can be to Metrolink from the east of the in question safer and more likely to achieved to the adjacent neighbour- station will help with access to the support future retail based develop- hood around Whittaker Street and station and the town centre. ment. Careful design of roads and the town centre by car and foot. It car parking facilities can also help to may also be possible to incorpo- Pioneer Mill Improvements - reduce traffic intrusion in sensitive rate proposals for the Bury Metro Road connections between the Pio- areas and promote walking and cy- composite cycle route network into neer Mill site and areas of Radcliffe cling. General improvements to the the design of facilities on the Coney to the south of the river are good traffic and public transport facilities Green site. but severance issue exist with the in order to serve the area as a whole town centre to the north of the are discussed in chapter 10 but river. A potential new road bridge more specific improvements may be connecting the site to the town necessary as a consequence of each centre will improve accessibility

-64- between both sides of the river. Town Centre Development - Due ‘normal walking distance’ along a Accessibility to the Metrolink station to the proximity of these devel- particular route’. is good but further improvements opments to the town centre the are necessary to improve links neighbourhood benefits from all the Radcliffe is a compact town and between the site and the local bus facilities such as the Metrolink, bus designated development sites network and facilities. facilities and retail areas. have been located close to the Walking and cycling facilities can be town centre itself. In order to Radcliffe Neighbourhood - Good improved, especially for the St. Tho- analyse the accessibility of exist- road connections exist with Pilking- mas Neighbourhood scheme, by al- ing facilities in relation to any fu- ton Way leading to areas outside of lowing access through development ture possible development sites, Radcliffe but the canal disconnects sites close to the town centre to catchment areas representing an the existing road network serving other facilities such as the Metrolink area within 5 minutes normal the development from the north- station and proposed bus facilities. walking distance of a particular west areas of the town. Proposals site have been established. Local to build a link over the canal should Isochrone Methodology knowledge of the walking condi- help to integrate this area into the Accessibility by walking and cy- tions including gradient and community as a whole. The pro- cling has been tested using tech- general ease of use have been posed Radcliffe Neighbourhood is niques taken from the research used to produce a realistic model further away from the commercial paper produced by the Scottish of pedestrian movement in the town centre than the other pro- Executive Central Research Unit town. posed developments and Pilkington entitled Accessibility: review of Way acts as a barrier between the measuring techniques and their Once existing walking accessibil- development and the town centre, application. ity conditions have been tested Metrolink station and other facilities. it has been possible to test how Public Transport facilities will need Origin and destination acces- and where improvements to to be improved in order to serve this sibility has been measured for walking facilities within the Inner particular site and improvements to existing key sites and proposed Radcliffe area can be made to pedestrian and cycling facilities will developments within the in- improve accessibility to proposed help to improve links across Pilking- ner Radcliffe area based on ‘an developments as well as the area ton Way to the town centre. average persons ability to walk a as a whole.

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-66- 8. SWOT Analysis

In which we bring together the analysis in the first four sections of this report and the consultations that we have undertaken to suggest a vision for the future of Radcliffe. This is set out initially in an analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing Radcliffe before reviewing the results of the round table workshop.

From the analysis that we have airport, Trafford Centre and oth- eter who serve an international undertaken we have developed an er regional facilities are within market in precision measuring assessment of the Strengths, Weak- easy reach by motorway and equipment. O2 are also based nesses, Opportunities and Threats soon by Metrolink. Yet at the near the town and there are a facing Radcliffe as set out below: same time Radcliffe is set within number of strong manufacturing countryside - which extends into firms in the area to the west of Strengths the heart of the town. It is also Asda. There is also a good level It is clear from our analysis that within easy reach of the hills and of demand for small scale manu- Radcliffe, despite all of the hard moors to the north and east of facturing uses and the potential times, has a number of very real Manchester and therefore has to attract new employment into strengths that can be uses as the the best of both worlds. the town. basis for regeneration: Metrolink service and mo- Distinctive neighbourhoods: Mix of uses in the town torway access: The Metrolink As described in Part 3, there are centre: Despite the decline of service and the proximity of the a number of strong and distinc- the town centre, it retains a full M60 give Radcliffe excellent ac- tive neighbourhoods around the mix of uses including shops, cessibility. The extension of the town centre. This is particularly the market, the church and Metrolink system will increase true of the housing areas around Civic Centre as well as a range this accessibility although it will Radcliffe High School in the of other facilities. It therefore mean that other towns also ben- west of the town and to the retains the bones of a ‘proper’ efit from a Metrolink connec- north of Cross Lane (despite its town centre, which is something tion. current difficulties). that we can build upon as part of the strategy. Good local employers, inter- Craft fair and carnival: The ested in expansion: While the craft fair and carnival that take Proximity to Manchester and closure of the paper mills has place in the town every summer the countryside: In many re- undermined the employment are evidence of a strong com- spects the location of Radcliffe base of the town, there remains munity spirit and the willingness is ideal. Manchester City Centre a number of very good employ- of traders to get involved in the is just 20 minutes away and the ers in the town such as Trum- town. The craft fair in Septem-

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ber 2003 attracted more than a the manufacturing base as a re- this has been successfully re- thousand people into the town sult of the closure of the paper claimed to form Outwood For- and helped to demonstrate its mills and Allen’s Green Works. est Park. However, the Allen’s potential. These closures are recent and Green site and the East Lanca- the scars are still fresh. shire Paper Mill are currently History and heritage: Rad- prominent vacant sites giving the cliffe is a historic town dating Decline of the retail centre: centre a neglected feel. back to Roman times. While The town centre has also col- the evidence of this history is lapsed when compared to its Moribund market: While there limited, there is the potential to former role as a market town. have been some recent improve- emphasise this past as part of While there are a number of ments the market in Radcliffe the reinvention of the town. strong independent retailers, the is generally in a poor state. The town centre as a whole is barely comparison with Bury market is Topography: The view of Rad- viable as a retail location. This is particularly striking. The market cliffe from its approaches is of a partly due to the loss of thou- suffers from the overall decline town nestling in a valley around sands of jobs near to the town of the town centre and the a bridge over the river and over- centre (these workers would declining number of customers. looked by a church. This historic have potentially used the centre). However, it is not helped by the form is potentially very attractive It is also due to national changes unattractive market building and as a model for the renaissance in retailing and increasing mobil- the poor position of the mar- of the town. ity so that people can more eas- ket entrance. This has created a ily get to better shopping centres spiral of decline as traders leave Weaknesses in the wider area. and the attraction of the market It is, however, important to is further eroded. recognise the weaknesses of the Areas of derelict and vacant town and the challenges that it must land: These changes have left The by-pass: While the by-pass face: scars in the form of vacant and has undoubtedly alleviated traf- derelict land around the centre. fic problems in the main shop- Collapse of manufacturing: The worst dereliction of the past ping area of the town centre it Stemming from the collapse of was the Outwood Colliery and has consequently damaged the

-68- economic performance of the velopers of commercial leisure, The Ruckreim Collection: A centre. Strong town centres tend offices and retailing is very weak component of the Irwell Sculp- to benefit from the removal of in Radcliffe. There is, therefore, ture Trail is a significant body of through traffic but for weak little demand to develop new work by the world-renown Ger- centres it leads to a further loss buildings other than industrial man sculpture Ulrich Ruckreim of trade as shops lose passing use or to improve the exiting and this offers an opportunity trade and visibility. The by-pass premises. to add to this attraction. These also creates a physical barrier be- minimalist sculptures may not tween Asda (which is attracting Opportunities have huge popular appeal but customers) and the town centre. Despite these problems there are- they are of world significance some very important opportunities and a Ruckreim galley would Weak but improving schools: to transform Radcliffe: really put Radcliffe on the map. The Council has undertaken a There is the opportunity of a survey of pupils at Radcliffe The Irwell Sculpture Trail: further donation of Ruckreim High and Coney Green High The sculpture trial along the work if this becomes a reality. Schools during this study. It is Irwell valley is a maturing op- This has been pursued by Bury clear that the schools are very portunity. It now includes some Council through the Market committed and are improving. It 40 pieces of work and there- Museum project. This proposal is, however, undeniable that they fore is an important collection is for a new building by John are the two weakest schools in albeit not with the profile of Pawson to house the Ruckreim Bury (which generally performs the Grisedale or Forest of Dean collection as well as the market very well in terms of education). sculpture trails. Previously the and the museum. The outside perception of the four authorities that collaborated Radcliffe schools is poor and on the trail could not agree on John Pawson’s interest in this is a major weakness in the which of them should host the the town: The combination regeneration of the town. centre for the trail. Now that of Ruckreim’s interest and the this collaboration has come to enthusiasm of Bury Council Very weak commercial de- an end there is an opportunity have persuaded the world-re- mand and values: As described for the visitor and interpretation nown minimalist architect John in Part 5, King Sturge have centre for the trail to be located Pawson to devote a considerable shown that demand from de- in Radcliffe. amount of time to Radcliffe. As

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British Waterways to reopen the canal create real opportunities to develop canal side uses and to encourage visitors to Radcliffe.

The school project: The Council is currently working on a project to transform the two Secondary schools in Radcliffe. The proposal is to consolidate the two existing schools into an entirely new building and to re- launch the school, on a different site. This type of re-launch has not always worked in the past when the conditions that created well as proposals for the Market quality of the River Irwell has the problems in the schools have Museum project, and has also improved significantly and has not been addressed. However, as drawn up masterplanning pro- the potential to establish itself part of the overall reinvention posals for the heart of the town as an attractive river - at least of Radcliffe it has the potential centre. as it runs through Radcliffe. A to overcome the currently weak number of potential develop- image of the schools. CITE’s proposal to locate in ment sites can therefore exploit the town: CITE (Commissions attractive riverside locations. Major development oppor- in the Environment) grew out Unfortunately Radcliffe tends to tunities: While the industrial of the partnership responsible turn its back onto the river with closures have been harmful to for the Irwell Sculpture Trail and riverside buildings, for example the town, they have also created are now an independent or- on Church Street West and Mill- some important development ganisation. As described above, town Street backing onto and opportunities. The biggest of they are exploring the possibility blocking views of the water. these is the East Lancashire of locating their offices in the Paper Mill site but there is also former Radcliffe Times building The reopening of the canal: the Allen’s Green Works site, the along with studio space for The same is true of the Man- remainder of the Radcliffe Paper artists. chester, Bolton and Bury Canal, Mill site and potentially vacant that runs to the north of Rad- school sites. It is unfortunate

The potential for waterside cliffe town centre, which, even that the appeal on the Allen’s Now that the polluting uses: now, is an attractive water fea- Green Works site has now been industry has gone, the water ture. However, the proposals by lost and this will be developed

-70- for standard housing as we saw Threats including, of course the East this as an opportunity to ensure There are a number of Lancashire Paper Mill. a developement scheme of good opportunities that we can exploit quality and distinctive design. in developing a new vision for Physical deterioration of the This makes it all the more im- Radcliffe. However, there are also town centre: One of the prob- portant that the other sites and threats that we must face up to: lems with weak retail and service in particular the East Lancashire sector interest is that the values Paper mill site are used carefully Improvements to neighbour- do not justify investment in the as part of the reinvention of the ing centres: Most of the buildings of the town. This is town (rather than being lost to centres surrounding Radcliffe are the view of London and Associ- characterless housing develop- improving. Major development is ates who own a large part of the ment). planned within Bury town centre shopping centre and this also and this will inevitably become appears to be the case with Kwik Strong interest from housing a stronger draw further under- Save. The result is the gradual developers: The key to unlock- mining Radcliffe’s position. It is, physical deterioration of the ing these development sites is therefore, increasingly unlikely centre. the interest in developing new that Radcliffe will ever compete housing in Radcliffe. This is a again as a significant retail centre. Expansion of Asda: The Asda consequence of concentrating supermarket could have con- development within the urban Loss of employment: There is solidated the town by bringing area and resisting the release a real danger that the remaining more shoppers into the centre. of peripheral open land for employment base of the town However, the town centre does housing. In addition the strong will be lost. This is mainly due to not provide sufficient attrac- housing market in North Man- current Government policy that tions to draw people across the chester and particularly in the seeks to concentrate develop- by-pass. The threat is that the Borough has led to significant ment within the existing urban Asda expands further by, for levels of residential development area and the growth in residen- example, providing a pharmacy, in recent years. This housing tial land values, both of which post office or expanding its non- demand including apartment are causing residential develop- food ranges. This would further living is now working its way up ers to seek consent to build on threaten shops in the town north along the Metrolink line employment sites. A residential centre. and spilling over into Radcliffe. application on the Allen’s Green While the quality of some of Works site has been approved Doing nothing: It is clear from the early schemes was not par- following an appeal during the our analysis that doing noth- ticularly good there is a growing course of this study. There ing is not an option. If current interest in more urban housing is also residential developer trends continue there is a danger that could help to repopulate interest on many of the other that Radcliffe will decline to the Radcliffe. employment sites in the town, point that the town centre dies.

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Stakeholder consultations strong sense of community. The opportunities for employ- As part of the study we have talked ers. to a range of people and attended The range of facilities offered meetings of the Traders Associa- by the town centre including the What people dislike about tion. We also organised a round skate park, the leisure centre and Radcliffe table workshop in the Civic Suite on the library. The list of gripes that people had 20th May 2003, which was attended about Radcliffe was equally long by more than 70 people with an The good connections by road and included the following: interest in the town. As part of the and tram and the ease of park- consultations and particularly at the ing in the town centre. The town has a very poor image, workshop we discussed the current particularly within Bury. People strengths and weaknesses of Rad- The proximity to the Irwell in Radcliffe feel that the Bor- cliffe and talked about a possible Sculpture Trail. ough looks down on them. vision for the town. The full write up of the workshop is included as The distinctive buildings of the More important in some re- Appendix 1 and below we summa- town. While the urban design spects is the fact that Radcliffe rise the main points. analysis in chapter 4 suggested people have a poor self-image that there were few buildings of and lack confidence in them- What people value about distinction those that exist are selves and the town. This is Radcliffe valued. not surprising given the recent People at the workshop came up knocks that the town has taken. with a long list of things that they The ease of getting to the sur- valued about Radcliffe: rounding countryside and the The vacant sites around the Outwood Forest Park. centre and the poor quality of The fact that it is a distinc- buildings, particularly on Church tive town with a strong sense The quality of local neighbour- Street West. of community and belong- hoods. ing. While it is part of Greater The failing town centre and the Manchester it has retained its The availability of affordable impact of Asda that is seen to independence, identity and a housing. have diverted trade from the

-72- centre rather than brought new high schools and the generally ton, Stalybridge, and Skipton. These customers in. low level of skills in the local are all small market towns with population. an industrial past that have found The current state of the market new roles. People were particularly that is seen to be a shadow of Radcliffe’s potential interested in the model of Hebden its former self and is not being Generally the consultees felt great Bridge, which was seen to have re- managed effectively by the Mar- loyalty towards Radcliffe but were invented itself by attracting people kets Department. positive about its failings. When to live there and encouraging visi- asked what sort of place Radcliffe tors by transforming its image. This Failing neighbourhoods, particu- was like at the moment the sugges- was seen as the future for Radcliffe. larly on Cross Lane. tions included other small indus- trial towns like Ashington, Eccles, The workshop, therefore, went on The separation of the Metrolink Farnworth, Heywood and West- to discuss how these ideas might Station from the town centre. houghton. However, larger places translate into a vision for Radcliffe. were also mentioned like Burnley This was set out through answers to The barrier created by the and Ashford as well as more af- the following questions: by-pass and the fact that it has fluent neighbouring towns like isolated the town centre. Ramsbottom, Whitefield and Prest- Q. What image will Radcliffe wich. There was also a suggestion have in the future? The perception that Radcliffe is that Radcliffe was like Castlefield in A. A distinctive riverside neigh- a dumping ground for the hous- Manchester 15 years ago before its bourhood known for its arts and ing department with more than regeneration - which may be a bit festivals. A good place to live its fair share of social housing. harsh but nevertheless highlights its with a local centre (rather than a potential. town centre?) containing a fan- The concentration of depriva- tastic range of facilities. It would tion in the area and the associ- People were then asked about the thus be seen as a place in its own ated problems of anti-social type of place that Radcliffe could right rather than a smaller ver- behaviour, drugs etc. become. Ramsbottom was men- sion of Bury. tioned again along with Hebden The poor performance of local Bridge, Honiton (Devon), Middle-

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Q. Where will people earn their Q. What should Radcliffe look backing at the workshop to money? like? reopen Blackburn Street and to A. There was an acceptance that A. While people liked the historic bring some traffic back though people in Radcliffe would com- roots of Radcliffe they were not the town centre. There was mute into Manchester, Bury and overly protective of them. There real concern about the by-pass other places to work but there was a feeling that new develop- and a desire to tame it so that it was concern that it should not ment should be designed to the became more of a friendly street. become a dormitory town. Rad- highest quality and should be cliffe should be a place where contemporary and distinctive. The workshop went on to look at there are people living and work- The idea of attracting world- a range of specific proposals for ing. Existing jobs should there- class architects like John Pawson parts of the town that we return to fore be protected and new jobs to the town was fully endorsed. in Part 10. However, before that we created. These new jobs should need to pull these strands together include small-scale workshops Q. How do we improve liveabil- to set out a vision and strategy for but also jobs in creative indus- ity? Radcliffe, which is what we do in tries, leisure and tourism. A. One of the keys to Radcliffe’s the next section. recovery is to encourage its Q. What role will the town centre existing residents to stay and to play? attract new residents (and hous- A. It was accepted that Radcliffe ing developers) into the town. town centre could never com- To do this it must focus on how pete with Bolton and Bury - so attractive it is to live in Radcliffe. there is little point trying. New This is partly about housing, the roles need to be created for quality of the environment and the town centre, which would the facilities in the town centre. include convenience shop- However, it is also about issues ping, specialist shops, creative like crime and crucially educa- outlets, specialist markets (flea, tion. The workshop therefore books etc…) as well as being a fully endorsed what, at the time, focus for pubs and bars and the were PFI proposals to create a evening economy. For this to new secondary school on a new work there is a need for more site. attractions to bring people into town, more animation (like the Q. How do we make the centre craft fair) and more people living more accessible? locally. A. There was almost unanimous

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-76- Part 3 - Towards a Vision -77- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

-78- 9. Reinventing Radcliffe

In which we discuss the key issues of liveability and wealth crea- tion that must lie at the heart of a vision for Radcliffe. We suggest a vision based on a distinctive urban neighbourhood and de- velop this into seven themes including; encouraging new hous- ing, protecting and encouraging jobs, consolidating the town centre, making Radcliffe a centre for the arts, improving links in and around the town, creating a model school and transforming Radcliffe’s image.

We have described in this report Trafford Centre. What then is the Wealth creation: The second how Radcliffe grew from a village future for Radcliffe? issue is where people earn their into a thriving industrial town in the money. Here there are broadly mid 19th century. This was based on URBED’s work on the renaissance two options. Traditionally in collieries, mills and later the paper of industrial towns suggests that industrial towns people earned industry. This employment has now their future depends on two key their money locally and, as they completely disappeared and the new issues. became more affluent, they employment that has been attracted tended to live outside the town. into the town is on a much smaller Liveability: The most important In this way industrial towns were scale. It is, therefore, important issue is the quality of life in the great wealth creators but tended to ask - what is the future role for town, what is increasingly being to ‘export’ this wealth. Alter- Radcliffe now that the reasons for called liveability. This is based natively suburbs generate very its growth into a town have disap- on a range of issues including little wealth but attract people peared? the quality of education, levels who work elsewhere. They are of crime, local services, cultural therefore ‘importers’ of wealth It is not going to turn back into facilities, the housing stock and and many grow very rich in this the village that it was 200 years the quality of the environ- way. Whichever way the wealth ago. There is also little support for ment. Liveable towns retain is earned, the key to a prosper- it becoming a dormitory suburb their existing population and ous town is encouraging people for Manchester, although it already attract people in from outside. to spend their money locally. plays this role to an extent. We Liveable towns are popular, In this way the wealth supports have also concluded that it cannot attractive places that also tend local jobs and businesses and is recapture its heyday as a thriving to have high business start-up recycled through a number of independent town because times rates. They are also attractive to pockets before leaving the town. have moved on and it is no longer inward investors, partly because possible for small towns like Rad- they are good places to be but cliffe to compete against their larger also because they have a stock neighbours not to mention regional of skilled articulate employees. attractions like Manchester and the

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A vision for Radcliffe neighbourhood or an urban vil- (see image of Greenville), which The future for Radcliffe lies in a lage, its prospects are much more could provide a powerful model for combination of these approaches - positive. It could be compared, its renaissance. In the US the same to make itself a more liveable place, for example, to Hulme in South ideas have been developed through to expand its population, to encour- Manchester that is regarded as a what have been called ‘Pedestrian age local wealth creation while also national example of best practice Pockets’. These are high density, appealing to people who work else- in the creation of a sustainable walkable, mixed-use neighbour- where in Greater Manchester and to urban neighbourhood. Yet Hulme hoods clustered around a tram stop ensure that its town centre attracts does not have a shopping centre to and surrounded by countryside. local spending so that the money is match Radcliffe, nor does it have This again bears an uncanny resem- recycled through the local economy. a Metrolink service or a distinc- blance to Radcliffe. The model for this approach is the tive identity based on more than a small town of Providence, which thousand years of history. Radcliffe Themes is just outside Boston in the US. is just 20 minutes away from Central This vision suggest a series of This, like Radcliffe was once a mill Manchester and so is only marginal- themes that should guide the Rein- town but saw the closure of its ly less convenient than Hulme yet it venting Radcliffe strategy as set out traditional industry. Its approach is also surrounded by greenbelt and below: was to improve the quality of life within easy reach of exceptional for its citizens and to attract people countryside. 1. Encouraging new housing: who worked in Boston. Initially this The first step is to encourage strategy led to a huge commuting Our vision for Radcliffe is a sustain- new housing development in flow into Boston. However, over able urban neighbourhood within appropriate locations in and time these people started to set up the Greater Manchester conurba- around central Radcliffe. There their own businesses in Providence tion with a strong local economy is a healthy demand to develop and companies in Boston also but which is also seen as one of the in southern and northern Rad- started to relocate to the town to best and most interesting places to cliffe and the market is start- be nearer their employees and to live in North Manchester. This vi- ing to improve in and around reduce costs. After a decade of this sion can potentially link into a range the town centre. New housing the number of people flowing out of models both in the UK and the would increase the number of of Boston are almost as great as US. In the UK the most well known people living in and around the those in the other direction. model is the Urban Village, promot- town centre increasing the po- ed initially by Prince Charles. This tential customers for the shops This suggests a vision for the future initially referred to self-contained and facilities. This new housing of Radcliffe not as an independent new settlements. However, it soon should be mostly for sale to town but as a distinctive neighbour- came to refer to neighbourhoods rebalance the current predomi- hood within the Greater Man- within existing cities like Hulme. nance of social housing in the chester conurbation. If we look Radcliffe is in fact more like the town centre. at Radcliffe as a sustainable urban original model of the urban village

-80- Illustrative 3D drawing of the proposed development in Hulme, Manchester by URBED

2. Protecting and encouraging centre. This is the main opportu- for Radcliffe. These include the jobs: We are recommending that nity to recycle wealth and to cre- world’s third gallery devoted to the existing employment areas ate a distinctive identity for the the work of Ulrich Ruckreim, to the west of the town centre town. We are, therefore, propos- one of the first UK buildings (behind Asda) and along Mill- ing a range of improvements to by the architect John Pawson, a town Street should be retained the town centre including the re- centre for the Irwell Sculpture and improved. King Sturge development of the market and Trail and a base for the organi- suggest that there is demand the development of the Kwik sation CITE along with studio for small scale industrial and Save and bus station. The aim is space for artists. Together these workshop units and these should to improve the environment of opportunities could transform be encouraged in these areas, the the centre and to reconnect it to the identity of Radcliffe as a starting point being the lower the surrounding, and expanding, leading centre for the arts in part of the Radcliffe Paper Mill residential areas. It will also be Greater Manchester. This in site that has been retained for important to increase the range turn will transform its image and employment uses. This theme of activities in the centre to in- increase its appeal as a place to should also include the im- clude speciality and convenience live and work. provement of the Pioneer Mill shopping, leisure and evening site and the encouragement of economy uses as well as cultural 5. Improving links in and existing successful firms such as activities as described below. around the town: As we Trumeter to expand. describe in Chapters 4 and 7 4. Making Radcliffe a centre Radcliffe has suffered from 3. Consolidating the town cen- for the arts: As we described poor connections as a result of tre: There is little point attract- in Chapter 8 there are some the river, canal and railway. The ing more people to live in Rad- extraordinary opportunities to by-pass has also made pedes- cliffe if they do not use the town create a unique cultural identity trian links withinin the shopping

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area of the town centre more 7. Transforming Radcliffe’s im- difficult even if it has improved age: The final theme relates to vehicle movement. An impor- the image of Radcliffe. This was tant theme is therefore to create picked up as an important issue new links across these barriers at the workshop. However, while and to open up the town centre Radcliffe is not regarded posi- by reopening Blackburn Street tively within Bury, its image in to traffic. the wider Manchester area is not particularly poor. It is, therefore, 6. Creating a model school: The quite possible to project a posi- improvement of secondary tive image. Based on the propos- school education in Radcliffe als in this report we believe that is essential to the town’s future. this is achievable and should be Secondary schools are vital in an important part of the strat- equipping local people with the egy. learning and skills needed in a modern economy. They are Based on these themes we suggest that the vision for Radcliffe also a vital part of the attrac- should be as follows: tion of a town as a place to live. The proposed redevelopment Radcliffe will become a distinctive urban neighbourhood linked of the schools is therefore an into the Manchester conurbation by tram and road. It will be important part of this strategy. seen as a good place to live by its local community and by those It is also very appropriate that looking for a base in North Manchester. It will be focused on the new school specialises in a dense, lively local centre that provides for the community’s technology and the arts since shopping, leisure and cultural needs. It will be known as a this would dovetail with the arts centre for the visual arts and for exploring the Irwell Sculpture theme above. Trail attracting both visitors and practicing artists.

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-84- Part 4 - The Masterplan -85- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

-86- 10. Area Proposals

In which we describe our detailed proposals for each part of the town. This includes a description of our proposals, an implemen- tation route, funding implications and priority/timing. The principles outlined in the previous chapter have been devel- oped into a series of proposals for Radcliffe. These are described on the attached masterplan for the town. We describe below each area in turn.

The School Sites that these two sites have slightly dif- crossings over the canal. This new As we described in the previous ferent characters. route could potentially create the chapter we agree with the Council’s opportunity to relieve the pressure proposals to merge and redevelop The Radcliffe High School Site: on the Water Street/Spring Lane the two Secondary schools. Building This 5.2 ha site is part of the Abden junction. The industrial sites to the a new school on the East Lanca- Street neighbourhood. This is a north of the canal, which is not part shire Paper Mill site will liberate the healthy predominantly terraced of the school site, could also come two existing school sites for devel- area with some local facilities and into play for residential develop- opment. Both are potentially very a mix of uses. The entrance to the ment allowing housing on both attractive residential opportunities school is off a formal garden area sides of the canal. The character of since they abut the canal, have links on the axis of Abden Street. We the canal at this point is semi-rural. to open countryside and relate to have retained this feature and sug- We are suggesting that the housing existing residential neighbourhoods. gested a reasonably formal housing makes a soft edge to the water with There is potential on both sides to layout which ties into the existing planting and public access. develop new housing on the site of street network to the east. We are the school buildings. More difficult proposing that this be developed Coney Green High School: This from a planning perspective is the with medium density housing at 6.2 ha site is possibly the best development of the school play- 40-50 homes/ha giving a yield of residential opportunity in Radcliffe. ing fields. this may be classified as 120 units. There is, we believe, an It overlooks the canal and open a greenfield site so that application important opportunity to create a countryside to the north while would be referred to the Secretary road link to Bolton Street to the being adjacent to the Metrolink of State. This is something that northwest. As we described in the station. It is affected by noise from should be tested. We are suggesting access chapter there are very few the elevated Metrolink track and

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abuts suburban housing to the west. release a land receipt for investment sites, plus the housing proposed We are therefore suggesting a layout, in the new school. This, however, elsewhere in these proposals, will which is medium density on Spring should not encourage the Council need to be phased in over a number Lane (50/ha) and becomes lower to look for quick sale or a standard of years. density (35/ha) to the north. This scheme. If the Council retains an would give a yield of approximately ongoing role as a development part- This should influence the parce- 100 units. ner it can ensure both a good quality lation of these proposals. One of development and potentially approach would be to tender each Implementation Route: Both share in increasing residential values. school site separately. This would sites are Council owned and do not The schemes should also generate have the advantage of spreading require subsidy for residential devel- S106 contributions for investment risk and encouraging a variety of opment. The implementation route in the town centre in addition to the approaches. The danger, however, is should therefore involve a detailed new bridge crossing. that developers will be put off for development brief produced by the fear of development on other sites Council that is then put to the mar- Phasing and Priority: The phasing flooding the market. We, therefore, ket in order to secure a development of these schemes is clearly depend- believe that a better approach would partner. In our view the Council ent on housing supply and the be to treat the two sites together as should be seeking a development availability of the East Lancashire part of the overall scheme. In this partner rather than seeing the school Paper Mill site for the new school. way a consortium would be able to sites as straightforward disposals. Clearly nothing can happen until work with the Council on the whole the new school is built and ready package making it easier to control Funding and Viability: Both sites for occupation. This does, however, supply and phasing. involve significant values and will cause problems in using the capital not require any subsidy to develop. receipts for the school. The other This includes the costs of infra- important phasing issue is the house structure - the main element of building take-up rate in Radcliffe. which is the proposal for a new This is currently likely to be not bridge over the canal on the Rad- more than 100 units/year. While cliffe High School site. One of the this is likely to rise as values in the objectives of these schemes is to area increase, it is clear that these

-88- The St. Thomas’ Quarter The scheme would wrap itself housing on the basis of future The St. Thomas’ estate is a product around the open space to the east rental receipts. of the 1970s. It won design awards of the Civic Centre to create a town when it was completed but has not centre park overlooked by sur- Phasing: This is a longer-term proved popular as a housing area rounding property. This could in- project partly because of the need despite recent investment. Our clude the proposed health centre or to complete the ALMO but also concern is that the maze of pas- church on the site fronting Church because of the danger of oversup- sageways and routes through the Street West. The scheme would ply in the housing market. estate make it a virtual no-go area cover approximately 4 ha and would to everyone except residents. This yield about 80 homes and 50 flats. tends to cut the town and church off from the Metrolink station and Implementation Route: The renders useless the area of open implementation routes available space next to the Civic Centre. for this type of development are Our proposal is that this estate be becoming well established and flow redeveloped. We would stress that from the ALMO process. This this is not currently a Council pro- could include a partnership between posal and would need to be consid- a private and social housing pro- ered as part of the current ALMO vider or a PFI scheme. This is likely discussions. Nevertheless, there has to form part of a wider discus- been clear support for this proposal sion relating to the ALMO stock during the consultations carried out and needs to be pursued once the as part of this study. The redevel- ALMO is in place. opment would be for a residential scheme that mixes new social hous- Viability and Funding: Most ing for residents wishing to stay in schemes of this type are funded by the area with private stock. This increasing density and using receipts would be based on the old street from private housing to subsidise pattern and would therefore knit new social housing. Alternatively a into the surrounding streets. PFI route would fund new social

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north Not to scale

SUN Quarter - INDICATIVE Masterplan -90- The SUN Quarter The Bus Depot: We are pro- options for procuring this facil- At the heart of our proposals for posing that the bus station be ity: Radcliffe is the transformation of removed and that it be replaced the town centre. This is based on with individual bus stops distrib- a) The current proposals for a an acceptance (as described in the uted around the town centre. new landmark building by John last chapter) of the fact that its retail Pawson are the ideal solution and role has changed forever. The new Blackburn Street: The pedes- should be pursued as a prior- town centre is therefore made up of trianised section of Blackburn ity. We are however concerned a combination of elements includ- Street should be reopened to at the difficulty of raising the ing local retailing, a market, leisure traffic as part of the wider capital and more importantly uses, visitor/cultural facilities and transport proposals that we have the revenue for this facility. We housing. described. This will take local would therefore suggest that it We have developed traffic and buses. The piazza will be pursued rigorously for a year these proposals into an indicative however remain as a pedestrian- but that if no progress is made masterplan for the town centre that ised space with through traffic in this time, alternatives are pur- includes the following proposals: using the existing line of Stand sued. Lane to the rear of the Bridge The market: The market should Tavern pub. b) The second option is a much be taken out of the market mu- simpler refurbishment of the seum concept. It should instead The Gallery/Museum: We existing market building. This be redeveloped as an open-air strongly support proposals to would involve basic repairs and market on the lines of the Bury create a major cultural facility in maintenance, large new windows Market. We are suggesting that Radcliffe. The elements of this overlooking the river, the re- this be developed on the site of are likely to include the Ruckreim moval of the false ceiling and the the current Post Office depot, Gallery, a gallery for changing painting of the interior white and which would be relocated to an exhibitions, the museum and the refurbishment of the base- industrial unit. The new market the visitor centre/archive and ment. This would cost a fraction would be a permanent structure administrative base for the Irwell of the cost for the new building with lock-up units. Sculpture Trail. There are three (say £500,000 -£750,000) and

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would create a space not unlike Radcliffe Times: We endorse about their premises. In the case the original Saachi Gallery in CITE’s proposed conversion of the latter this could be tied to a London. and extension of the Radcliffe new store in the proposed scheme. Times building as a base for During this period the funding for c) The third option is a space cre- their activities and for cultural option A of Gallery/museum pro- ated as the basement and ground businesses, which are now the posals should be sought. floor of a residential block on subject of a planning applica- the market site. This is a model tion. We have suggested that this The next step would be to package established by the Castlefield be linked to a new footbridge the entire scheme and put it to the Gallery in Manchester and could over the River at this point. market. The aim will be to secure be achieved within the overall a development partner to bring development package for the Central Square: We were forward the entire scheme. This scheme and the surrounding intrigued by John Pawson’s partner would then work with the area with capital being required proposal to create a residential Council using a cocktail of funds just for fit out. tower on the site of Bridge Tav- as outlined below to realise the ern pub. This has been included museum/gallery, housing, retailing Kwik Save Site: We are pro- in our proposal as a landmark and market. posing that the Kwik Save be structure with the pub licence redeveloped as part of a com- transferred to a new ground Funding and viability: The prehensive scheme taking in the floor bar. sources of funding available to this gallery/museum, bus station site scheme are: the value of the land, and post office site. This would Implementation Route: These the development value for residen- be book ended by the new proposals need to be carefully tial accommodation, mainstream market and museum described coordinated and sequenced. The resources from Bury, (for example above. Between these would be first step is to reopen Blackburn for the market), S106 contributions two blocks with retailing on the Street. This will allow new bus from other sites and grants of vari- ground floor and housing above. stops to be created and the bus ous kinds. Bury does not lie within a A public space would be created station to be closed. In parallel to Neighbourhood Renewal Fund area to the east of the museum on this, discussions need to take place so that grants are limited to small the riverbank. with the Post Office and Kwik Save amounts of European and Lottery

-92- funding. This is going to make it difficult to find capital funds for Option A of the museum/gallery. On the other hand, residential val- ues are not yet sufficiently strong to fund the scheme through develop- ment and land values. We, therefore, believe that the preparatory work described above should proceed on the assumptions that rising values and the demonstrable commitment of the Council will mean that the scheme becomes viable within 18 months to 2 years.

Timetable and phasing: Described above

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The Riverside Employment Zone There is real concern in Radcliffe, and indeed the wider Bury area, that employment sites will be lost to housing development. This is illus- trated by the recent planning appeal on the former Allen’s Green Works Plan 29: Aerial view of Inner Radcliffe site. We believe that it is important to retain an employment base in Radcliffe and that it makes sense to concentrate this employment in its traditional location in a band along the river from Sion Street through the lower part of the Radcliffe Paper Mill site and along Milltown Street to Pioneer Mill.

Plan 30: Open space

Plan 31: Current road hierarchy -94- The East Lancashire Paper Mill The East Lancashire Paper Mill is the largest development opportunity in Radcliffe. The mill closed down a few years ago and the owners are seeking to dispose of the site. The main development interest is from housing developers, although the Plan 32: Main areas of change Council are keen to ensure that part of the site is retained for employ- ment use.

The site includes a number of build- ings, some of which have some architectural interest. There are also a series of reservoirs, one of which is used by a fishing club. The work’s club remains active on the site, as does the cricket field. The site is bounded to the north by the rear gardens of property on Cross Lane and there are a few remaining terraces together with a pub on the Plan 33: Areas of change with council ownership western part of the site. A significant constraint on the site is the Scottish Power Combined Heat and Power plant, which was completed only a few years ago.

The King Sturge study into employ- ment land in Bury has concluded that this site is unlikely to attract new industrial uses over the entire site. It is, therefore, our view that it is likely to remain vacant unless a degree of housing development is permitted.

Plan 34: Hard and soft plan -95- Re-Inventing Radcliffe - Final report December 2003

We are therefore proposing the fol- lowing elements for the site:

A new secondary school in the southeastern part of the site linked to playing fields on the

Plan 35: New road layout Radcliffe E’es site.

A retained and improved cricket pitch to create a ‘village green’ at the heart of the site.

The retained reservoir used by the fishing club.

The retention of the oldest part of the paper mill converted to workspace for small enterprises.

The remainder of the site de- veloped for housing making up 80% of the site area. This would be developed at 40-60/ha giving Plan 36: Masterplan a yield of approximately 400 homes.

Implementation route: There is currently developer interest in the site so that it could be brought forward for residential development together with some workspace. This needs to be done on the basis of a planning brief drawn up by the Council on the basis of this study. This would include the cricket ground and retained reservoir as well as the proportion of work- space.

Plan 37: Masterplan with quarters -96- The only difficult part of the -im as a matter of urgency if it is to plementation is the school. If the influence the development propos- costs of the school are met by the als that are probably already being Council it is possible that develop- developed. ers would be prepared to provide the site as part of their section 106 contributions. This could, however, be onerous but there may be an option in which there is a partial land swap with one of the other school sites. An alternative would be for the Council to negotiate the acquisition of the school site separately from the current owners. This should be possible but may create difficulty because the site will need to be acquired from the sale of the existing school sites becom- ing available.

Viability and funding: This scheme should largely be possible without subsidy. The two areas that may require funds are the acquisi- tion of the school site as described above and the workspace. The latter should be pursued as part of a S106 agreement/planning condi- tion. However, subject to detailed appraisal work it may be that some subsidy is needed. This could be pursued through NWDA.

Timing and phasing: The priority on this site is to prepare a planning brief with committee approval that can set the context for develop- ment. This needs to be produced

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north

Not to scale INDICATIVE Masterplan

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-100- Appendix 1

Visioning Workshop 20th May 2003

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The Good things about Rad- Places to go The Bad things about Rad- cliffe Easy access to countryside cliffe Proximity to Manchester Identity Identity Distinctive town General outer appearance bad perception from insiders History Canal has great potential low self-esteem, disillusioned Community, strong social net- Improved quality of the en- people work vironment (environmental pessimistic people Its people schemes) perception - proud bad negative Sense of community spirit Nice areas no vision for Radcliffe’s future – ‘This is Radcliffe.’ Canal side areas lack of knowledge/awareness People who are proud of Rad- Green areas general bad image cliffe apathy of people (Radcliffe – a Canal Security dumping ground) River Lowest crime rate in the bor- press creates a bad image Football team ough Urban Design & Architecture Urban Design & Architecture Social aspects Civic centre is inaccessible from Sculpture Trail affordable property prices Public Transport Some attractive buildings Derelict sites/buildings Facilities Asda situated outside the centre Mixed Use Skater Park on the other side of the bypass Asda Swimming pool Bad state of terraced properties Library Leisure centre – threat from low income house- IT Centre Outwood Trail holds New Bank Garden Centre Scooter trail No balance between social and private housing (‘pepperpotted’) Transport Employment Lacks a heart Metrolink Available sites for development Market requires regenerating Car park at Heber Street Opportunity to be special Kwik Save Plentiful free parking Good area for employers to Bus station Good connection to the motor- develop new businesses Fragmented town centre way Some industry remaining Poor quality of some buildings Cycle track along the old railway Local employers Isolation of the town centre – nature trail Specialist shops - lot of inde- with Asda pendents No link from Metro Station to There are no good things about the town centre Radcliffe. Divided town

-102- Residential areas are not linked Social aspects Middleton to the town centre Drugs Oldham Antisocial behaviour Walkden Mixed use Vandalism Westhoughton market – half the stalls are Legacy of ‘homeless’ dumping empty and half are car boot ground ‘Radcliffe is like any other town not enough shops Skill base is a major problem without a heart.’ Asda drained people from the Pockets of degradation town centre Poverty The places Radcliffe could be lack of facilities (community Low income homes like facilities) Bad education at High Schools no facilities for young people à pupils are educated to work in Bury no shops that sell something the mills Hebden Bridge (canal town special or are different from big river) chain stores Employment Honiton, Devon lack of quality shops Employers leave Radcliffe Middleton lack of night time economy Lack of investment à under- Ramsbottom lack of open spaces for young mines confidence! Huddersfield people to meet at every time Demise of paper industry Kirklees Loss of traditional jobs (mills) Manchester Castlefield Transport Commuter town, people go to Prestwich Bypass takes everyone past Rad- Manchester for work Skipton cliffe Staley Bridge Spring Lane and Blackburn The places that are most like ‘Mini Salford Quays’ Street are traffic bottleneck Radcliffe today Amsterdam Pilkington Way division The Hague Metrolink is not very well con- Ashington Eindhoven nected with the town centre Whitefield Accessibility to the town centre Ashford Radcliffe should use its own re- Ramsbottom sources. Places Prestwich Radcliffe toilets Manchester Castlefield (15 years ago) General outer appearance Burnley Poor shop frontages Eccles Lack of street furniture (benches Farnworth etc.) Small towns around Bury Lack of green areas/planting Heywood (similar stigma)

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Our vision – Radcliffe in 10 town centre Move heavy (‘dirty’) industry to years time Improve the Sculpture + Arts the other side of the river trail Lock prices at a low level to More Employment Using the river as a asset encourage people to set their Wide variety of different sorts Fountain at the river businesses up there of work Integrate children in social/ Mixed use development Facilities for the young, leisure community projects as planting Radcliffe university Mega bowl flowers Small creative industries units Massive Youth Club Events as live bands in the cen- Incubator units – science park Rail link between Radcliffe and tre, carnival Greenery Bolton Improved shop fronts Cricket, bowling ground Improved public realm Internet café Create a street network to access Higher quality of facilities, better Flee market the site maintained Be different from Bury (no Preserve the mill as part of Rad- Less house building activities shopping centre but maybe cliffe’s history/heritage No dormitory town sports centre instead) Improved schools and sporting Being unique Kwik Save site: provision – facilities for every- Walking routes ‘shop window’ to the town one Set up forums with people who open up the river Waterfront Bar Scene have influence/money move the bus station Street markets Spread the money for different develop a market concept Improved market projects/neighbourhoods market museum or covered Evening economy – decent bars, More shops for older people multi-use market restaurants (no yobo culture as Turn Radcliffe into an area relocate library – near market in Bury) where people want to live and museum Let investors in only if their work by tackling perception and evening economy type develop- project supports Radcliffe’s redesigning the town for the ment future development 21st century cultural quarter Distinctive places to work & stay internet café Develop creative industries, What should happen to…? living over shop public arts health care facilities Vastly improved environment East Lancs. Paper Mill site: Community centre Opened river and canal Keep reservoirs for recreation Kelsell’s Plumbing Tourism (commercially improve) WT Fabrications Increase in specialist shops Possibly residential development Thematic markets (farmers mar- Radcliffe – an event orientated around a commercially viable ket etc.) town fishery Leisure Better quality housing in the Retain leisure facilities Indoor/outdoor market

-104- Strebor site: tion How do we make the best of the Housing Landmark building river? Sports + Leisure Pursuits Centre Turn Church Street West into a Open it up Hotel boulevard Sculpture trail link to the canal Youth centre Wider pavements Use the most attractive sites for ‘Another Pilsworth’ – cinema, Tree-lined attractive route housing bowling, casino Improved bus stops Leisure centre Employment uses Link to the new cultural quarter Small retail units Move the town centre towards How can the market be revived? Small industrial estate to move the Metrolink Good marketing strategy the works out of the town cen- Market museum tre How can the canal and the sur- Covered multi-use market Access the site via Bolton Street rounding residential areas be Open up the town centre (Black- (bridge over the canal) linked? burn Street) Revive Blackburn Street (North) Demolish the whole centre and What should be done with the with bars, restaurants, commu- build something new schools? nity centres Restaurants along the river East Lancs. Paper Mill should be Set up more activities along the Reopen the old cinema used for the new location of the canal Combine new development with High School due to Metrolink Open up the canal and set up the market museum access activities as boat trips etc. New development sites at the Coney Green School should be car park and the bus station developed for housing How can we overcome the barrier The market museum goes on the The new High school should created by the bypass (Asda)? market hall site go next to the Metro station à Develop the site opposite Asda Living over the shop to get more mix of schools, one stop shop, to connect the centre and Asda residents into the town centre sports Signage for shops across the Bus route through the town road centre (Blackburn Street) How can the linkages between Create a new route through the Active frontages for new devel- the Metro station and the town town centre (Dale Street) opments centre be improved? The Asda should play a minor Shuttle bus from the station to role; people go there anyway; it How can the townscape be im- the town centre does not need to be integrated proved? Free busses for older people into the town centre Good quality for whatever is around the centre Footbridge over the bypass built Have a bus station next to the More street furniture Metrolink There is no need for a bus sta-

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