Plans to demolish Crompton Place shopping centre in Bolton have been approved.
Work to bulldoze the local landmark – which was built in 1971 and bought by Bolton Council for £14.8m in 2018 – is expected to start in January and continue during most of 2026.
A proposed £250m redevelopment of the site was deemed to be unviable and scrapped after the coronavirus pandemic.
Bolton Council leader Nick Peel told Radio Manchester that the local authority had secured government funds to “better get an oven-ready development site ready for private developers to come in”.
Peel added: “What it actually represents is one of the biggest single inner town-centre development sites in the country.
“We’re not doing this in stages. It’s not a case of demolish the centre, make the site ready, then go out to find the developer.
“By the time we get to the demolition stage next year, we are pretty confident we’ll have major announcements on the future uses by future developers.
“What we don’t want is a boarded-up unused building, which can be dangerous, subject to break-ins and all of that.”
Small parks and pop-up food and drink outlets will be located near the redevelopment site, “so that it keeps that vibrancy alive on Victoria Square”, said Peel.
About 500,000 people are expected to visit the 20th Bolton Food & Drink Festival during the bank holiday weekend.
Peel said: “We have another major centre in Bolton at the Market Place – which is doing quite well – but centres are becoming multi-use. They’re not just shops any more.
“Councils across the country are grappling with the issue of repurposing land and buildings for a modern age as people’s shopping habits change.”
Bolton’s regeneration plan was “housing-led”, he said.
“That then generates its own local economy,” explained Peel, “because thousands of people moving into the town centre will have money to spend.
“They want shops, they want services, they want restaurants, they want a family-friendly night-time economy and all of those associated things.
“It is a proven economic model that does work.”
