Burnham to create 'Bolton Mayoral Development' Corporation

This comes after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said he would set up a new organisation aimed at bringing expertise and “quite possibly funding” to the town’s works.

Bolton Council leader Cllr Nick Peel said he hoped the new “Mayoral Development Corporation”, will boost plans like the Moor Lane and Crompton Place developments.

He said: “It’s about taking Bolton Council’s regeneration plans to another level now with the participation of the combined authority, bringing in a private sector chair and private sector expertise.

“Bolton Council will still be in charge but we will be getting extra assistance, so why would we say no to that?”

Bolton Council will still be leading on regeneration projects (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Peel said that as well as bringing in private sector expertise to the borough’s regeneration projects, the new corporation would “quite possibly” help unlock extra funding.

This could come either from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority or from the national government.

Having been re-elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester in last week’s poll, Mr Burnham is now pledged to set up the corporation as one of his manifesto commitments.

This will follow on from the similar Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation, which has been involved in regeneration projects in the town for the past five years.

This has included being involved in building around 1,400 new homes and creating the  Stockport Exchange business district, made up of offices and other facilities.

During a visit to Bolton just before the election he said that Bolton desperately needed its old empty shopping spaces to be repurposed.

This has been a particular cause of concern since the loss of big high street names like Marks and Spencer from Deansgate and Debenhams from the Market Place.

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He said at the time that the Mayoral Development Corporation could help create new housing, leisure and cultural spaces to make up for the loss of retailers.

Mr Burnham’s manifesto said: “Bolton Council has indicated its wish to set up a new Mayoral Development Corporation based on the Stockport model covering Bolton town centre.

“If re-elected, I will ask the GMCA to move quickly to establish the new Bolton MDC under a high-profile chair.

“The council has already made a great start with new start-up space and residential development coming to the town centre and this is the perfect time for an MDC to bring a much bigger vision for Bolton together.”