Prince's Gate, the great expectation

WELL on its way to completion . . . the Prince's Gate car park

MARKS and Spencer and Oldham Council formally announced the plans for Prince's Gate in November 2014, as part of a mixed-use scheme that includes retail and residential opportunities.

Prince's Gate was expected to create more than 700 jobs and generate up to £19 million for the local economy each year.

With the arrival of the Metrolink trams, the removal of the Mumps railway lines and bridge, selective demolition and reclamation of plots, the whole Mumps area is seen as a key eastern gateway to Oldham town centre.

Prince's Gate is seen as a key element in the town centre's further redevelopment, alongside the Independent Quarter on Yorkshire Street and Union Street, and the new cinema and family-focused restaurants at the Old Town Hall.

When he was leader of Oldham Council, Jim McMahon had said Princes Gate would raise aspirations and become a 'game-changer for the new Oldham'.

M&S's involvement there was also welcomed at the time by Charlie Parker, who had been instrumental in securing the retailer's interest while he was Oldham Council's chief executive.

Speaking at the time, Mr Parker said: "This didn't just come after one meeting, it is the culmination of a lot of hard work and planning. We did a lot of work before we even spoke to M&S. The real change came about when we had a meeting with the chief executive in London and we were able to convince him that this was not just a pipe dream.

"We did a lot of work on demographics, travel-to-shop data and site visuals to help M&S look into the future and get on-board with our vision. The M&S chief executive told us that it was a very professional presentation."

Mr Parker said the Odeon cinema deal, M&S and other projects showed that even in difficult times, people would invest in the town.

In December, 2014, planning permission for the M&S store was granted by Oldham Council and confirmation came that contracts had been exchanged

Speaking then, Mr McMahon said: "We never doubted it would happen but it's a really positive milestone to be able to officially confirm Marks & Spencer is coming to Oldham.

"Our market research overwhelmingly told us they are the favourite missing high street store people wanted to see here and we've now delivered that."

The news of M&S's involvement was also welcomed by councillors and politicians, and small businesses around Yorkshire Street and Union Street, which is being developed as an Independent Quarter.

In 2015, plans were drawn up to redevelop the Old Bank building at Mumps near the Prince's Gate site. The blueprint showed an elaborate exterior of the Grade II listed building to incorporate a gym, restaurants, retail and office space. A modern extension at its side would become 54 one and two-bedroom apartments, under the scheme.

Over the past 18 months, neighbouring sites have also been cleared for redevelopment including Roscoe Mill and the former RSPCA animal centre on Rhodes Bank. More recently, a replacement car park has recently been built across the road from the current Mumps park-and-ride site.