Radcliffe regeneration

Radcliffe

Radcliffe's Civic Hub Levelling Up Fund bid

Central government announced the details of The Levelling Up Fund in the March 2021 budget. It is a competitive fund which focuses on projects that can deliver visible change over a short period of time. Local Authorities can submit bids of up to £20 million for town centre regeneration investment. See Levelling Up Fund for more information.

On 27 October 2021, Bury Council was informed that it's bid for £20 million to the Levelling Up Fund to support the development of a mixed-use civic hub had been successful. The Civic Hub will comprise sustainable, modern new build facilities, and will be developed alongside the refurbishment of key council assets, in the heart of Radcliffe town centre.

The proposals incorporate a brand-new wellness and leisure facility, and library and learning centre, which is coupled with flexible space for local businesses and community groups, as well as integrated shops, food and drink outlets, and space for local events.

The interventions have been designed following an assessment of data on Radcliffe's needs and will:

Make Radcliffe's residents healthier, and more prosperous. This will be achieved by co-locating complementary council services (leisure services, library services, economic development, and adult learning services) and clinical commissioning group staff (the integrated neighbourhood health team) and will be complemented by supportive space for business startups. By working together in a flexible space, the services can improve coordination, be more accessible for residents, enhance referral and joint action, and ensure that all Radcliffe residents have the opportunities for supported skills development, job creation and business growth. This in turn will provide opportunities for the most deprived groups to benefit from Levelling Up.
Improve council performance by clearing poor quality, obsolete building stock, decarbonising existing council buildings, and ensuring that the new civic hub is carbon neutral in construction and operation.
Reinvigorate Radcliffe's high street. The physical fabric of Radcliffe will be improved through the creation of a state-of-the-art civic hub, and refurbishments to council owned buildings, such as market chambers. The high street will be diversified and strengthened against the impacts of online shopping through the provision of new leisure facilities, cultural andevents space, and workplaces for small businesses. The new facilities will be a major place of employment and key reason to visit the town, which will improve footfall and benefit the wider town centre.
Give the town a modern centrepiece that residents can be proud of.

The civic hub

The civic hub will be a modern new build, located on the south block of the existing 1960's precinct in the town centre and will contain leisure facilities, library facilities, council services, high quality retail, food and beverage outlets, and community events space.

The building is designed to maximise street-side activity.

North block

The north block of the existing 1960's precinct will be developed to provide surface level car parking and in the longer-term to contain uses which will be complementary to the civic hub building.

The market and market chambers

The market chambers building will be refurbished to house flexible commercial office space, as well as a retail, and food and beverage offer. The building will be linked to the adjacent market, with access to a newly refurbished basement space which will provide a community and cultural events suite.

The enterprise centre

The existing Carnegie library will be refurbished and repurposed as a publicly accessible community skills and enterprise centre. It will be designed to complement both the civic and wellness functions of the hub for residents and support the development of the business activity in the market and market chambers, as well as the wider business community in Radcliffe.

Supporting works

These developments will be supported, and their functions linked more closely together by enhanced public realm and the provision of infrastructure to support active travel, and improved accessibility to public transport.

The Radcliffe Strategic Regeneration Framework

The Strategic Regeneration Framework is the guide that is shaping the direction of Radcliffe's growth over the next 15 years with a series of realistic short, medium, and longer-term actions. It is also guiding the direction of future council investment, supporting bids for central governmental funding and providing certainty for third parties wanting to invest in town.

The Strategic Regeneration Framework's content builds upon previous regeneration work, extensive stakeholder engagement, including a formal six-week consultation in summer 2020, and comprehensive analyses of Radcliffe's demographic data.

The Strategic Regeneration Framework was adopted by Bury council in September 2020, and benefits from cross-party support, which has been formalised in a robust governance structure (see Governance).

Work has begun on the Strategic Regeneration Framework's priority projects, which the council intend to deliver in the short to medium term (see Radcliffe Strategic Regeneration Framework priority projects). These include:

A new civic hub in central Radcliffe, which will bring together a mix of functions at the heart of the town
Refurbishment of the market basement and the revamping of market chambers
New leisure facilities
A secondary school on the Coney Green site
A "whole town approach" to housing, bringing forward a comprehensive approach to residential development in Radcliffe
A transportation strategy, which will consider matters such as active travel and car parking

For further information on Radcliffe's regeneration please see our frequently asked questions page.