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 and Building Bolton Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for further information. St Helena is the area to the northwest of the core town centre bounded by Deansgate, Knowsley Street, Back Bark Street, Pool Street and Marsden Road. Building Bolton identifies much of the area as within a ‘Shatter Zone’ of poorer quality townscape, however to the southeastern corner the area benefits from frontage to the existing civic and retail core of the town centre.
The St Helena area straddles the River Croal which follows a Victorian channel through its urban setting effectively severing the existing retail core from the northern part of the town centre. Land rises either side steeply to the north towards Bark Street and more gradually to the south towards Deansgate. Whilst much of the land area comprises cleared former industrial sites, currently used for surface car parking, there are generally three distinct areas of land and the council has identified two major development opportunities: Central Street and King Street.
Central Street Phase
The St Helena area, specifically the Central Street site has been identified as been identified as being best placed to accomodate the next phases of planned retail growth. The council formally adopted the St Helena Development Opportunity Area Brief - Central Street in May 2005. The document is available to download in Adobe PDF formant on the right hand side.
King Street Phase
The King Street area presents an exciting opportunity for residential-led mixed-use development that will have a significant regeneration impact. The King Street Development Brief was formally adopted as a Statement of Council Policy on 11th December 2006. The brief has been prepared to guide the development of land at King Street, Blundell Street and St Edmunds Street. The document is available to download in Adobe PDF formant on the right hand side.
Visit the Business Bolton website for the latest information on the St Helena development.