A bid for £25 million from the ‘Towns Fund’ toward a regeneration project in Bolton has been finalised the council leader saying he will be “very, very surprised” if the application is not successful.
The Greater Manchester borough of Bolton was announced as one of the 101 towns across the UK which would be eligible for support from the government’s £3.6 billion ‘Towns Fund’, which was announced back in September 2019.
The fund intends to drive the economic regeneration of towns to deliver long-term economic growth.
If Bolton’s finalised application can convince the government of the scheme’s value for money, the borough could have up to £25m allocated to it, which will need to be spent by the end of March 2026, according to the Bolton News.
The borough has already received £1 million in advance funding and a decision on the rest is expected before the end of the year.
Each town nominated for funding is required to establish a Town Deal Board – which is the body through which the vision and strategy for the town is defined – and the board must be chaired by a representative of the local business community.
The Bolton board has now finalised its priority schemes for the bid, while rejecting others.
Among the schemes which have been put forward in the finalised Bolton regeneration plan are for The Wellness Centre to have a high-end spa and leisure facility next to the already-planned Le Mans Hotel in the heart of the town centre.
Bolton Council say this luxury spa is intended to “draw in day visitors” to the town.
Flickr / Mikey
Speaking at a council cabinet meeting – which approved the bid this week – Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh, said: “Everything is positive so far. We already been allocated £1m to get proposals up and running and we should hear back by end of the year.
“The government want to see development happen very quickly with timescales starting in March and April.”
The ‘Towns Fund’ bid is said to be entirely separate from the £100m investment planned for elsewhere the town centre over the next decade – which is to go toward leisure and culture, office and residential development – and the council hopes it will be combined with up to £1bn of private sector investment.
When challenged by opposition leader Nick Peel on what Bolton Council’s ‘plan B’ was if the funding was denied, Cllr Greenhalgh responded: “The Towns Fund is an important part of our regeneration plans but not the whole picture. It’s not an either or within the main regeneration plans – All our eggs are not in one basket.
“These words could come back to haunt me, but I shall be very, very surprised if we don’t get some proportion of our bid for the towns fund.
“If it doesn’t happen, it won’t mean these plans will go to waste.
“We will have some very good schemes built up, oven ready as you may want to call them, to move ahead whenever any more grants come together whether from Greater Manchester or government.”
The Trinity Gateway Development – Bolton Council
Other schemes forming part of the bid include another priority project to improve pedestrian connections to the transport interchange, Le Mans Crescent and Newport Street, all in and around the town centre, and a third scheme could see further extension and upgrade to Bolton’s Central Museum and Art Gallery to “provide an improved destination and focal point to the civic quarter”.
Among the schemes left out of the proposal are plans to redevelop Elizabeth House.
This is said to be due to Bolton Council not being in ownership of the building and “the case for public intervention at this time is unclear”.
Trending
Heaton Park’s ‘Gallagher Hill’ where people have been watching Oasis for free is no more
Thomas Melia
The Heaton Park viewpoint coined ‘Gallagher Hill’ which fans flocked to to watch Oasis for free has been closed off ahead of the remaining gig dates.
The particular high area of Heaton Park has gone viral online after Oasis fans have been using it to watch the Live ’25 shows for free, with a distant view of the huge screens.
But as thousands of ticket-holders flock back to the remaining Manchester gigs of Oasis Live ’25, fans who couldn’t manage to get any tickets will be disappointed to learn that the viral viewing point Gallagher Hill has been shut down.
Usually, this hill section of the Manchester green space isn’t filled with Gallagher supporters – it’s normally home to a herd of cows who use this land to graze and walk about on throughout the day.
Huge fences have now been erected around the area to prevent any further groups from gathering, with Oasis still set to perform on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Manchester City Council has said that there are also around 300 young trees that have been planted in this part of Heaton Park to develop a new woodland area.
The purpose of the fencing is ‘dual purpose’, a council spokesperson said: “Both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there. The necessary measure means the concert will no longer be visible from this area.”
After seeing videos of fans in this particular area, one TikTok user checked it out for herself asking her followers: “Would you get on Gallagher hill now?” before panning her camera to show cows grazing on the land.
Although fans of the Manchester icons were flocking to this spot in order to join in on the Oasis fun from afar, issues have been raised via safety concerns of visitors, the cattle herd and reports of litter.
Fans are now being directed to enjoy the many, many events taking place in the city centre, including the MCR Live Hub at Piccadilly Gardens.
‘Gallagher Hill’ in Manchester today ahead of the next Oasis shows. Credit: The Manc Group
Some fans have been very understanding reasoning this fair decision admitting, “Probably because of security and threats unfortunately”, while others express their disappointment asking, “How sad do you have to be to put that up?”.
One social media user, who was planning on taking a family member to this brand new Manchester landmark commented, “They could’ve utilised Gallagher hill”.
The fan went on to pose the question of making it an official viewpoint for concerts, posing the question, “£30 entry fee, is that too steep?”.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure, Manchester City Council, said: “The atmosphere across Manchester has been electric over this last week with the whole city swept up in Oasis fever and peaking over the weekend with the first two hugely successful homecoming concerts at Heaton Park.
“As you would expect given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimalised.
“The steps being taken ahead of the next concert regretfully mean the distant view of the large screens behind the event stage will no longer be there. Unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place to protect the very recent extensive planting of young trees in that location as we try to establish a new woodland area in the park, and the wellbeing of our cattle herd in the field, as well as to keep people in the park safe.
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead. The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
Kolo Touré joins Manchester City’s backroom staff on a permanent basis
Danny Jones
Former Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool defender, Kolo Touré, has now permanently re-joined the club as a first-team coach.
The retired centre-back, who finished his career at Scottish giants Celtic FC before hanging up his boots back in 2017 and becoming part of their backroom staff, has been working with Man City as part of the FIFA Club World Cup set-up.
Having clearly impressed on the road, not to mention having spent last season as Assistant Lead Coach alongside U18s boss Oliver Reiss – with the youth side winning the Premier League North title – the 44-year-old has now been given an assistant coaching job with the senior squad on a full-time basis.
Announced on Tuesday, 15 July, ahead of City’s pre-season tour getting underway next month, Kolo Touré is the latest among multiple recent appointments to manager Pep Guardiola’s ranks.
Hailing from the Ivory Coast and having enjoyed a career spanning more than 15 years, he’s considered one of the greatest African players of all time, so it’s no question that he brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the role.
Touré, who made more than a century of appearances for the Blues, began his coaching journey with the national team before assisting Brendan Rodgers at both Celtic and Leicester City.
He also spent a rather short spell at another Greater Manchester side, being made head coach of Wigan Athletic in November 2022.
But it wasn’t to be…
The older brother of fellow City club legend, Yaya, was ultimately sacked around two months later (just 59 days, to be exact) after having failed to win a single fixture in his first name games in charge.
Kolo Touré taking instructions from Pep, the chemistry’s taking shape. Brilliant to see Kolo soaking it all in from the very best. He’s here for the long haul, man. You can feel it. pic.twitter.com/RscM9rg0GS
Commenting on Toure’s appointment as first-team assistant coach, Director of Football Hugo Viana said in an official club statement: “We’re delighted to permanently add Kolo to our first team coaching staff.
“Not only does he bring his immensely precious experience at football’s elite level, but he also has a deep connection with Manchester City and a deep knowledge of the Club.
“We’ve also been hugely impressed with his work and success with our Under-18s, and by adding him to our senior staff permanently, this will only strengthen the transition for players in our Academy into the first team.
“As we already saw throughout his time with Pep Guardiola, Pep Lijnders and James French this summer, his massive personality of optimism and positivity is hugely infectious and we’re already looking forward to his work moving forward.”
In case you were unfamiliar with the latter two names, you’ll find all you need to know down below.
Emily Sergeant -
7th October 2020 
