Final blueprint for Bridge Street

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TOWN Hall chiefs at Warrington are being asked to approve the final planning blueprint for the revival of the Bridge Street, Time Square and Market area of the town centre.
A Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) has been drawn up following the production, last year, of a masterplan for the Bridge Street area.
The document has been produced following an eight week public consultation in January, February and March.
An area bounded by Bridge Street, Buttermarket Street, Academy Street and Mersey Street is covered by the SPD.
Its aim is to promote the area for future development, highlight development opportunities and outline a range of uses suitable for the area.
It also aims to preserve the historic environment and enhance it through future development.
The SPD acknowledges that expansion of the Golden Square shopping centre has resulted in more vacant shops in Bridge Street. It also recognises that a “vast concentration of pubs and bars in Lower Bridge Street has made it attractive to younger people – and that the overall quality of the environment is poor.
But it stresses that there is significant potential to exploit the attractive heritage of the buildings and provide a key link between areas north and south of the town centre – and that considerable investment will be required.
There has been, overall, much support for the SPD. But there has also been some significant criticism.
The “skittles” at Market Gate are condemned as “a waste of money which make the place look soulless” There are fears that Bridge Street will continue to deteriorate because of a lack of quality shops.
There are calls for traffic to be separated from pedestrians in the waterfront area, with an imaginative pedestrian way between the river and the town centre. The omission of the former Woolworth store in Sankey Street from the plan is described as “inexplicable” and there are also doubts about proposals to demolish the market hall and adjoining multi-storey car park.
Academy Way is described as an “insensitive road” which causes an ugly gap in the frontage of the east side of the area.
Pictured: The skittles…a waste of money, according to one critic.


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

2 Comments

  1. How much money needs to be wasted on Bridge St and the ajoining area? The Skittles were the biggest waste of money, then the re-doing of the street where the bombings acured. Put the back the way it was and encourage people to shop in town center again.

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