How huge investment is changing face of Rochdale

SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE LATEST MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TOWN

TENS of millions of pounds have been spent in Rochdale in the last few years, changing the town centre beyond all recognition.

In the heart of the town the river, which had been concreted over for more than a century, has been reopened, there are a new council offices, a new bus station and the arrival of the Metrolink.

But that’s just the start – many more big developments are also in the pipeline.

Hundreds of millions of pounds have been earmarked for major industrial, transport, housing and leisure projects in a bid to make Rochdale a force to be reckoned with in the 21st Century.

Here are the latest major developments in the town...

ROCHDALE RIVERSIDE

It’s not been plain-sailing for a leisure and retail project that promises to be transformational for the town centre.

First announced in 2007, legal wrangles have seen Rochdale Riverside delayed on more than one occasion.

But work on the first phase of the £100m scheme, around Smith Street, is finally set to get underway later this month.

It will contain around 25 shops, restaurants and cafes, and it’s estimated it could create more than 1,000 jobs and boost the local economy by £17m a year.

Big names to have signed up include Next, Boots and River Island, while Reel Cinemas are also set to open a six-screen cinema on the site.

It’s hoped work will be completed by 2020, with a planned second phase then set to include flats, offices and a hotel.

ROCHDALE MARKET

Rochdale’s market traders have been on the move a bit recently.

In 2013 the council saved the market from closure by taking over its near 800-year-old charter.

But it meant traders were moved out of their long-term home in the Exchange Shopping Centre to a temporary base on the land cleared for the Riverside development.

Since then stalls have been shifted again, to another temporary site at the bottom of Yorkshire Street.

But a more secure future is in sight.

Impressive £3m plans to create a permanent outdoor market on The Butts, next to the reopened river, were unveiled last year.

The nearby former Santander building is also planned to be converted into a specialist food and drink market.

Work is ongoing and its hoped the market will be up and running by the summer.

ROCHDALE TOWN HALL

Supposedly coveted by Hitler, the Grade I-listed town hall remains Rochdale’s most impressive building. But since local authority staff moved into the nearby, purpose built Number One Riverside offices in 2012 it’s stood largely empty.

Council chiefs have big plans for the building though.

A £8.9m Heritage Lottery Fund bid is in the pipeline to convert the building into an events and conference venue.

It’s also hoped restaurants and cafes could open in the Gothic masterpiece. Big plans are also afoot for the outside of the town hall.

Currently surrounded on all sides by car parking, £4m of council cash