Town centre management
The Rochdale Town Centre Management Company is a company
limited by guarantee and is solely dedicated to improving the
vitality and viability of Rochdale town centre.
The company was established to act as a catalyst
between the council and town centre businesses which is a crucial
role in ensuring the commercial viability of a healthy town
centre.
The Board of Directors consist of members of
the public and private sector as follows:
- Boots
- GMPTE (Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive)
- Ladies Only LTD
- Marks & Spencers
- Rochdale Council: Cll G Couzens, Cllr M. Sharif, and Cllr
R. Clegg
- Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre
- Rochdale and Heywood Independent
- Westgate
- Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre
Mission statement
"To work in successful partnership with public and private
sectors, continuing to improve the vitality and commercial
viability of Rochdale town centre."
Town Centre Management vision for the future:
- To make Rochdale Town Centre a successful retail destination,
creating a visually stimulating environment which is
consistently clean, accessible and safe;
- Offer a comprehensive range of retail outlets to include
National retailers and more distinctive independents;
- To work in partnership with other organisations in the town to
help develop and establish Rochdale as a visitor destination;
- To ensure Rochdale Town Centre becomes a town incorporating
working, living, shopping, entertainment, education, public
services, health and leisure;
- To benchmark Rochdale as a succesfull sub regional shopping
centre developing all of the above activities;
- To constantly improve and develop accessibility to the Town
Centre;
- To support local businesses ensuring continued vitality and
viability.
Rochdale Town Centre SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Low house prices in the borough meaning that residual
spending power is often relatively high in relation to other parts
of the region. Good location in relation to transport networks,
being near to the M62, with good links to the M66 and M60
Manchester ring road.
Increasing rents and stable yields in recent years indicate a
certain investor confidence in the town centre.
Good provision of car parking.
The presence of two well-maintained shopping centres (The
Wheatsheaf and Exchange) containing the majority of the town's
multiple retailers, with floorplates large enough to accommodate
such retailers.
Good provision of pedestrianised areas around the Primary
Shopping Area.
The presence of the Sunwin Department Store, part of the
Yorkshire Co-operative Group (and the Rochdale Pioneer legacy) as a
regional department store.
Weaknesses
High unemployment levels and low incomes in Rochdale mean that,
despite the lower house prices in relation to the rest of the
region, there may be a lack of available expenditure in parts of
the town to facilitate high levels of spending in the town centre.
This is compounded by the fact that the most affluent wards within
Rochdale are to the west of the borough and therefore those with
the greatest spending power tend to shop in Bury rather than
Rochdale due to Bury's greater choice and range of shops. There is
a large presence of budget / discount retailers, even within the
Primary Shopping Area, although this is more likely to be a
management issue rather than an issue that can be dealt with
through the planning process.
A number of small retail parks exist within the town centre
boundary (Central Retail Park and the Point Retail Park), which are
disjointed from the rest of the town centre with poorly orientated
units.
Vertical Integration within the Wheatsheaf and Exchange Shopping
Centres requires improvement to co-ordinate shopper movement more
efficiently.
The town centre is geographically located in a "bowl" formed by
the River Roch which may inhibit retail development that requires a
centra location on one, flat level.
Pedestrian movement is inhibited in some parts of the town
centre through confused traffic priorities in place.
The town centre is elongated along Drake Street and Yorkshire
Street, which coupled with the difficult pedestrian access to the
more peripheral parts of the town centre, makes for worsening
Secondary Shopping Areas.
The centre is under-represented by an edge-of-centre supermarket
which can often draw trade in to town centres by providing a
quality retail attraction with (usually free) car parking
benefits.
There are limited development sites that are well related to the
prime retail core of the centre.
Opportunities
The extension of the Metrolink system from central Manchester to
the heart of the town centre, adding to the already good access
provision.
The Metrolink development will require the demolition of parts
of the poor Drake Street frontage lining the southwestern edge of
the Central Retail Park, allowing this Retail Park to be opened up
to the rest of the t own centre.
The Riverside Development site provides the opportunity for
further retial development on town centre site that is capable of
improving links towards the southern part of the town centre, and
also improve links to the new bus station.
The development of the Kingsway Business Park to the east of the
town centre is likely to generate more local wealth and increase
the number of potential visitors to the town centre.
Threats
Any proposals allowed for further out-of-centre development
would impact negatively on the shopping offer available in Rochdale
by drawing trade away from the town centre when town centre
investment is needed.
Proposals in competing centres such as Bury, Oldham and
Manchester could impact detrimentally on shopper behaviour.