One man's vision for a 'Rochdale Plaza'

Iain Wight

Iain Wight, Chairman of Trustees at Rochdale Foodbank, would like to see a a central ‘avenue’ created at the heart of the new town centre development, the Rochdale Plaza, which will host a complete street of eating places for every taste and every price range, with areas designated for live music options.

Below he explains the rationale of his vision:

There have been a number of false starts in the definition of ideas for the next phases of the redevelopment of the town centre, once the new council offices and bus station have been built, and the black box has been knocked down. 

Most of the focus on the construction of a new ‘centre’ for Rochdale has been on attracting large retailers, and in some way becoming a realistic alternative to the new Bury shopping centre or even the Trafford Centre or Manchester City Centre shopping. 

This has always seemed to me to be a fruitless task. That particular ‘ship has sailed’. In simple business terms, unless you are the innovator or one of the early followers of a trend, then anyone else trying to ‘me too’ is unlikely to be profitable, or even successful at any level.

People have already decided where to do their shopping. They will not come back to Rochdale unless there is a very good reason. Free parking on a Saturday and after 3pm is good, but not enough to sustain a multi-million pound development.

Aiming to be a successful shopping centre is a lost cause. At least, at this stage.

Much has been said about working with Rochdale’s strengths and assets. The current plans to reopen the River Roch in the town centre are certainly a positive step in the right direction. Indeed more should be done to integrate the river into the future development plans. 

But what else has Rochdale to commend itself for? Tourism is an option – the Town Hall, Hollingworth Lake, Toad Lane Museum , but what is there for the tourists if they do make the journey from other towns and areas to Rochdale?

The one thing that both local people and tourists need, and what people will spend a reasonable amount of money on, on a regular basis, is food.

Rochdale has established a niche for itself in the annual Feel Good Festival – combining live music of all types with cooking demonstrations, food outlets, farmers market, and healthy living options. This has been successful every year. 

What can be done to build on that success?

Make Rochdale a centre of excellence for good food and live music. Rochdale has a great multicultural community, with restaurants, cafes and takeaways for all kinds of world food cultures. 

It has also sought to inspire generations of young musicians from Rochdale Music Service, Rochdale Youth Orchestra, Wardle Band, Milnrow Band, to the Back Door Music Project.

What little international heritage Rochdale possesses comes through the music of Gracie Fields and, more recently Lisa Stansfield.

Bring these together – food and music – and integrate them into the new development plans for Rochdale town centre.

Tourists like choice. If you go on a holiday abroad, what makes a destination successful is often the range and choice of eating places in an evening. So that people, within a short walking distance, can choose from any number of types of eating house, from takeaway and cafes to haute cuisine, from Thai, Chinese and Indian food to Italian, French and even English.

And it doesn’t just work abroad. The ‘curry mile’ in Manchester is swamped in an evening with hoards of people looking for a good meal at the right price – and that is in a deprived area.

It doesn’t really matter if there are several Indian restaurants all close to each other, or Italian restaurants – the sheer choice of eating places attracts the crowds, and all the restaurants benefit. Competition increases quality, better prices and more choice for the customers. It’s a win win.

Even the Trafford Centre offers a ‘street cafe’ culture, under cover, all enclosed, which is warm, safe and immune to the elements – ideal to sit ‘outside’ and enjoy a meal.

The Rochdale Plaza would be roofed (glass) so that it could operate successfully and securely all the year round. 

I believe that there are excellent chefs in Rochdale, who should be encouraged to open in the Plaza, and links could be developed with Hopwood Hall to train more people in catering and cooking, to create a centre of excellence that would create jobs as well as be an attraction to people from outside Rochdale.

Finally, I would suggest that when the larger national retailers see that footfall in Rochdale is increasing through the Rochdale Plaza, they will be queuing up to get a share of the opportunity. And ‘boutiques’ and independent retailers will also be attracted by such a novel approach. 

Be a shopping centre from 12 noon to 11pm. Go after an evening shopping experience, complementing the ‘buzz’ of people looking for somewhere to eat, and who can come every night of the week to the same Plaza and find a totally different eating or musical experience. The coming of the tram to Rochdale town centre makes it attractive to make the journey for such outings.

Rochdale has a once in a lifetime opportunity to ‘redefine’ itself. Within a couple of years the central hub of Rochdale will be cleared of buildings. What will replace them? If we are struggling now to fill two small shopping centres – Exchange and Wheatsheaf – how will another one fare? 

Play to Rochdale’s strengths: an opened river, a clean sheet, and a history of multi-cultural music and food.