ChamberNews
The future is looking bright for Altrincham ltrincham & Sale Chamber of Commerce joined forces with Networking in the City and invited the leader of the Trafford Council, Matt Colledge to give an update on Altrincham at a lunch held at Dee Thai. The event was sponsored by the Web Studio. Here, Councillor Colledge outlines the latest developments.
A
Two years ago, the Chamber asked me to speak at a lunch about what could have been encapsulated as ‘What to do with a problem called Altrincham’ as we were still reeling from national headlines proclaiming us one of the worst ‘Ghost Towns’ in Britain in terms of empty units and town centre decline.
ChamberFocus
Fast forward two years and the Chamber has again asked me to say a few words about Altrincham but the title has changed from ‘What to do with a problem called Altrincham’ to ‘What are we doing with Altrincham’ and I drop the word problem.
4
Back in 2011 I talked about a new engine of change for our town called Altrincham Forward. Back then it was little more than an idea but now it is a reality backed by financial and human resources and, critically, led by a group of people passionate about our town who range from your own Chamber of Commerce in
the form of Tony Collier and Jackie Campbell, representatives from businesses both local and of regional significance, voluntary groups such as the Civic Society and statutory organisations such as TfGM, Trafford Council and Trafford College. I have the privilege of chairing this group and the dedication and focus of the team is superb. The whole ethos of what we seek to achieve is to re-establish a town centre as an easy to use, vibrant place where small independent businesses can thrive alongside major chains, where the mix of retail, leisure, culture, residential and business meets the day to day needs of local people and visitors. And, crucially, somewhere where the market is at the heart of the town. Since its inception we have conducted an extensive review of the town’s conditions, published an annual action plan which
set out key workstreams to deal with each deficiency in the towns, developed an innovative public realm or streetscape plan and actively engaged in bringing about the conditions which at long last are starting to deliver change in our town. Although not directly an Altrincham Forward initiative the Council and stakeholders have worked hard to ensure that Stamford New Road and Railway Street resemble building sites in parts, with construction well under way for a brand new £19m transport interchange due to open before summer next year and a £13m modern hospital set to be operational in March 2014. Altrincham Forward itself has engineered the £2m relocation of the library from outside the interchange to a new building, complete with exhibition space, to be located next to the market on part of the old hospital site that will bring 11,000 visitors a month into the heart of