Dave Goddard is in chipper mood. As the leader of Stockport Borough Council – with its four-star rating for the fourth year running – not even the recession can get him down
These are tough times, and for a borough with more small businesses than most it’s worrying, but we’re trying to tackle it proactively rather than defensively,” says Goddard. “That’s why we’re launching the Stockport Boost campaign, to which we’re committing £850,000 to help protect Stockport.”
Stockport is still being developed. A rolling ten-year £50m public realm programme is nearly complete and BAM Properties’ Grade A St Peter’s Square office scheme now towers over the A6.
Carillion and the council are to redevelop Ponsonby House in a £12m scheme, while the local college’s town-centre campus is in phase two of an overhaul.
The issue is Bridgefield where the redevelopment of a town centre that has lost its purpose hit the skids last year when developer Lend Lease walked away. Goddard says: “To some extent we’re fortunate Lend Lease left when it did as elsewhere developers are walking away from half-built schemes. At least the site is intact. And it spent £3m bringing the project forward, so we know all there is to know about it technically.”
Consultancy Cushman & Wakefield is writing plan B as a less risky affair altogether than the single £500m scheme. It will have less residential and may be broken into two or three plots.
Goddard is keen to talk about the Hilton Garden Inn, a 165-bedroom business hotel to be built next to the pyramid. “We don’t have great hotels, but this could be a real catalyst for others,” he says. “Targetfollow is looking to redevelop the Grand Central area, to provide a vista from the station through to the A6, and we’re looking at securing funding to help make that happen – there’s a hotel already in the plan; it could be two.”
Making Stockport a more hospitable place is a challenge. It has major employers and a bustling professional services community, but the town loses out to district centres such as Bramhall, Marple and the Heatons. And professionals admit they wouldn’t consider a night out in the town. Town-centre project director Nicola Turner says: “There are successes, such as the Arden Arms, but we don’t have the brands.”
Goddard says the council is prepared to make it work: “If we can get a name in, a Ramsay or an Oliver, we’ll find them a building and help them kickstart it. It’s encouraging to see Robinsons invest in its estate in its home town as well.”
Goddard and Turner say the plans to create an urban village in Hopes Carr are looking good after an adjustment away from apartments. The Homes & Communities Agency has earmarked £150,000 for the project. On the other side of the town centre, the council is looking to prepare the Gorsey Bank business park site for development, whether by preferred developer Terrace Hill or a third party down the line.
Goddard is determined to make sure Stockport gets what it’s due. His sparky exchanges with the pro-Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) camp were a highlight of what became an otherwise tiresome debate. He says transport still needs to be tackled by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA): “We’re nearly through the post-TIF healing process. Our objection was that, as the second most-congested borough, Stockport was down to receive nothing more than a new bus station.”
Stockport council has backed public transport, starting a free town-centre shuttle bus service, also backed by Tesco. But the main focus is the South East Manchester Multi Modal Study, to extend the A555 bypass and ease congestion in the borough.
Goddard says: “The government has offered 50 per cent funding, £165m, and we have the support of Manchester City Council and the airport. If AGMA can prioritise it this could happen. If I were to leave one legacy as leader, I’d be happy if it were this.”
Also in: April 2009
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Open your mind
It’s not often that I’m genuinely surprised, or genuinely impressed, with a piece of technology. But on a trip to the Sandbox at the University of Central Lancashire I witnessed the best interactive demonstration I’ve ever seen.
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Navigating choppy waters
Large-scale private businesses are important for regional stability in the current climate. Rupert Cornford meets Michael Bibby, the head of Liverpool’s Bibby Line Group, to understand how it stays afloat.
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Sound of progress
It’s been five years since Alan Gilbert came to Manchester from Australia, just as the project to create the University of Manchester was forming. Michael Taylor asks “the President” how the grand plan is measuring up against his own targets.