Council considers tendering subsidy for town centre redevelopment

Rochdale Council is considering subsidising developers' tendering costs in the hope of attracting interest in the proposed £250million town centre regeneration project.

The chosen developer may be asked to pay a sum to unsuccessful candidates in order to off-set their bidding costs.

Council chief executive Roger Ellis said: "Market conditions are difficult for developers at the moment, which is why we held an open day to get their feedback on the proposed redevelopment.

"One suggestion was that the selected developer makes a financial contribution, which helps to pay some of the tendering costs of the other two shortlisted developers."

A final decision has not yet been made by the Council.

The Council made a dramatic and costly decision to re-run developer selection for the £250 million town centre redevelopment last year because of a landmark European procurement decision concerning a Greek Council’s development project.