Town hall parking axed as major revamp begins

PARKING has been axed at Rochdale town hall as a major revamp gets underway.

The multi million pound redevelopment of the grade I listed buidling is progressing fast, with contractors ready to move onto the site within weeks.

The council and Rochdale Development Agency are in the final stages of appointing a contractor to take forward the main building work, with the hall set to close at the end of the year ahead of work starting in January.

Most of the parking spaces around the town hall will need to be removed to make way for the site compound and facilitate the building’s transformation, with visitors asked to park in one of the other hundreds of spaces available in the area.

Council bosses say that there are more than 1,000 parking spaces across Rochdale town centre, including over 700 in the Rochdale Exchange shopping centre nearby.

Visitors can still use the three hours of free parking in one of the 870 spaces available on council car parks or on street spaces in Rochdale town centre.

The taxi rank on Packer Street will remain in place for the time being, as will a small number of spaces (32, including 12 disabled) in front of the town hall.

Coun John Blundell said: “We will need to make some big changes to the car park to enable work to get underway, but our visitors will still have a huge number of parking options available throughout Rochdale town centre.”