Business Bolton

Merchant's Quarter

Welcome to the Merchant's Quarter development homepage.

The council has characterised Bolton town centre into seven areas whose local distinctiveness will guide the architecture and urban design within new developments.  See the Town Centre Action Framework (TCAF) and Building Bolton SPD for further information. Merchant's Quarter is the area to the southeast of the core town centre bounded by the A666 St. Peter's Way, Lower Bridgeman Street, Manchester Road, Bradshawgate and the Bolton to Blackburn railway line.
 
The area comprising Merchant's Quarter forms part of the industrial ‘ring of fire' which originally surrounded the town centre. Early maps show rapid development in the first decades of the 19th Century, benefiting from the rail and canal links and a well planned street grid, that remains a key characteristic of the area. Some of the largest mills in the country were constructed in Bolton throughout the industrial revolution and the street grid allowed subdivision of the site into rectangular plots suitable for a range of industrial uses. They accommodated a mix of uses including a brewery, transport depot and various foundries and textile mills. Each use had a characteristic building plan, and this variety remains an important visual attribute of the area.

The vision for Bolton set by the Local Strategic Partnership aims to narrow the gap between the most and the least well off and to ensure economic prosperity.  Merchant's Quarter has significant potential in the longer term, to make a major contribution to these aims. Whilst protecting the core area of Merchant's Quarter for employment focused uses, the UDP acknowledges that the heavy industrial and employment uses that currently occupy the majority of buildings within Merchant's Quarter are no longer appropriate for this town centre location. These businesses will however continue to contribute to the economy of the borough thorough the jobs and services they provide. Developers and landowners will therefore be encouraged to relocate businesses to more appropriate sites elsewhere within Bolton.

The council's aspirations for the planned future redevelopment of the entire area will seek to create a commercial urban business quarter with the potential to attract over £200m investment and 500,000sqft Grade A office space together with a range of complementary uses set around new and refurbished streets, squares and spaces.

The image, perception, security and sense of place within Merchant's Quarter will be complemented by uses designed to broaden the range of activity without prejudicing the business focus, to bring vitality to the area outside of normal business hours. This will include hotels, restaurants, bars and niche retail to serve those working in Merchant's Quarter as well as attracting footfall from other parts of the town centre and increasing dwell time by visitors making Merchant's Quarter a destination in its own right. The sensitive insertion of residential accommodation on the periphery of Merchant's Quarter and within the adjacent areas of Bolton town centre will add to increased activity within the area.

Merchant's Quarter Supplementary Planning Document

The Merchant's Quarter masterplan was formally adopted by Bolton council as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in July 2009.

The document provides a strategic framework for the major comprehensive regeneration and redevelopment of the area, expanding on policies in the Bolton Unitary Development Plan 2005. The SPD does not have the same status as a Development Plan document but having been subject to public consultation, it will be a material consideration of significant weight in the determination of planning applications.  It sets out in more detail the objectives of the council for the form and content of development proposals for the site. It provides an overview on issues such as opportunities for vehicular access and egress, urban design principles, preferred uses, public realm and open space requirements and issues of local distinctiveness, perception and image.

The council is required to produce Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR) to assess the implementation of the Local Development Scheme (LDS) and the extent to which policies in Local Development Framework (LDF) are being achieved.  The council monitors the effects of the SPD as part of this process.

The Merchant's Quarter Masterplan SPD can be downloaded below in Adobe PDF format. 

Phasing and Timescales

Due to the size and complex nature of the area, a phased approach to the planned comprehensive regeneration of Merchant's Quarter is set out in the masterplan over a 10 to 15 year period. Development has commenced at the southern gateway to the town centre with the completion of Merchant's Place no.1. Full planning permission is in place for Merchant's Place no.2 together with an 80 bedroom hotel and car park.

The next phases will be carefully planned to deliver key aspects of infrastructure complemented by economic growth and occupier demand. Land will be assembled in order to deliver the key outcomes set out in the SPD and brought forward for development at an appropriate time in accordance with the masterplan principles.

Ways to get in touch

For more information, contact Laura Boardman, Principal Project Officer on 01204 336135 or email at laura.boardman@bolton.gov.uk