'Peaceful and tranquil' pocket park opens as 212-home neighbourhood completed

Cheadle Square, a 'protected space' behind Le Mans Crescent in Bolton, has been opened up as part of a major redevelopment

Historic public space in the heart of Bolton town centre has re-opened following the completion of a £40m regeneration project. The new ‘pocket park’ has been created within Cheadle Square behind Le Mans Crescent and Bolton town hall.

The square, named in 1947 in honour of former Mayor of Bolton Frank Cheadle, was most recently used for car parking but has now been improved as part of the Neighbourhood Moor Lane development. Developed jointly by social landlord Bolton at Home (BaH), Step Places, and Bolton Council, Moor Lane has regenerated the former bus station site with with 214 new homes completed by December, 2024.

The square, which helps link Bolton market with the rest of the town centre, features new landscaping, tree and shrubs and benches. Bolton at Home said it ‘offers a space for people to stop, rest, and socialise’. They added that the new area complements the nearby Elizabeth Park, another pocket park, which opened in last March on the site of the former Odeon cinema.

The two parks form part of a wider £7m investment to integrate the town’s public spaces. One of the aims of that project is to help recreate the historic route between the town centre and Queen’s Park.

Harinder Dhaliwal, managing director of Step Places, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have collaborated with Bolton Council to deliver Cheadle Square.

“A new piece of public realm that serves as both a natural extension to Le Mans Crescent and a vibrant addition to Bolton town centre and the wider regeneration vision.

“We’re confident that its high-quality design will bring lasting benefits to the community.” Noel Sharpe, BaH’s chief executive officer, added: “Cheadle Square was always intended to be an important part of Bolton’s public realm.

“We’re delighted to have played our role in returning it to a more open and vibrant space for use by Bolton residents and visitors. “It’s an area that offers peace and tranquillity in the heart of the town centre and I know is already being enjoyed by our customers living nearby, as well as shoppers, workers, and other visitors to the town centre.”

As well as homes developed for private buyers and renters, Neighbourhood Moor Lane has 82 new affordable homes for general needs rent, over 55s housing and rent to buy properties managed by Bolton at Home.

Frank Cheadle was Mayor of Bolton in 1928/29.

He campaigned for the space behind the town hall to be protected as an open space for the public, rather than being built on.