A NEW vision for Victoria Square with island gardens, living walls and more open space has been revealed in a bid to restore its “world-class” status.

Bolton and District Civic Trust has put forward an alternative proposal in response to redevelopment plans for Crompton Place Shopping Centre.

It calls for the council to consider reducing the height of new office blocks which would replace the shopping centre and push them back by five metres.

The trust welcomes proposals for an avenue between the new blocks leading to the town hall but said it should be wider and lined with “living green walls”.

It also suggests that twin “sanctuary” gardens, which could feature fountains, trees and seating, should be created on either side of the war memorial.

Richard Shirres, acting chair of the trust, said enhancing Victoria Square and making it into a “world-class” setting, as part of the Crompton Place redevelopment, would attract people and businesses to Bolton.

He said: “A new Crompton Place is an opportunity to re-set the square and to far better exploit one of the most magnificent Victorian facades in the UK whilst at the same time giving the best setting to the Cenotaph.”

Bolton Regeneration Limited, a partnership between Beijing Construction Engineering Group International and Midia, revealed its plans for Crompton Place earlier this year as part of the council’s £1.5bn town centre regeneration.

But the plans to demolish the shopping centre to make way for new retail, dining and office space, as well as 200 homes, a hotel and public space around Victoria Square, have been put on hold because of the coronavirus crisis.

The civic trust has studied the key qualities which make a ‘world class’ square and claims its  new proposals scored highly above the developers’ application.

Mr Shirres added: “Both our ‘jewel’ of a town hall and the cenotaph are in the top eight per cent of all heritage listed buildings.

“The most outstanding squares in the UK and Europe have majestic civic buildings enjoying ample space in front of their facades.

“But for the town Hall, its façade, its portico with stair flight spilling into Victoria Square, that space is actually less than ideal.

“To best effect some forty years ago, the square’s open space layout was enhanced, after its pedestrianisation.

“This rightly put the focus on the town hall’s majestic façade, which was also helped by the low-rise frontage of Crompton Place.

“The 1960s fountains on that side of the square were very popular with all ages and were a great vantage point to admire the town hall.

“But over recent decades the square has become cluttered with over grown trees, extensive lighting poles and the ‘keep off’ shrubbery around the cenotaph. Many good vistas have been obscured.

“Now the Crompton Place planning application proposes facades nearly twice the vertical area of the town hall up to its portico.

“The facades are, effectively, 80 foot cliff faces far too close to the town hall.  All of this would impact tremendously on the town hall.

“The civic trust believes instead that any new Crompton Place building, opposite the town hall, must be of modest height and set back by at least 5 metres to create the space for useful ’sanctuary gardens’, on each side of the war memorial.

“The cenotaph could be framed by both the gardens and the backdrop of living green walls from the sides of the avenue opening onto the square from behind.  This would greatly improve the vista from the town hall steps.

“These civic trust proposals, including the small island gardens, greatly increase the amenity of the square, provide a focus for people, as the old fountains did but with tree shading.

“For extreme rainfall, these gardens can serve to collect surface water and disperse it to underground storage tanks.

“The proposals, using best practice civic design, would help with adapting to the future climate, through green infrastructure.

“They would vastly improve the aesthetics and grandeur of the square and create a civic space that better serves urban sustainability and public well-being.”