New bus station to open by 2011

Design work on Rochdale's new bus station is well underway and the Council is expecting a planning application to be submitted in March. Work on remediating the site has already been completed, with the new facility anticipated to open in spring 2011.

Progress on appointing a design team this summer for the new Council Civic Offices development beside the river is apparently on schedule. A contractor will be appointed later this month for the demolition of the Motorcise building, which is due to start next month. This is all part of the programme to allow the existing municipal offices and bus station to be demolished by early 2012 to make way for the town centre redevelopment.

Several national developers have shown a strong interest in being the development partner for the town centre redevelopment opportunity. The Council was forced to re-run the search for a developer after the initial process fell foul of European Procurement decision.

The official tender process is planned to start in the spring to jointly promote and procure the transformation of the town centre. It is intended to select a developer by mid 2010, with a start on site in spring 2012 and completion of first retail units by autumn 2013.