Published Date: 21 April 2009
By Charles Graham

Wigan's colossal "textile city" project is still very much on. That was the Metro leader's pledge today as he quashed suggestions that Chinese investors had walked away from the £125m project, jeopardising the creation of 1,000 jobs.

While Lord Smith admitted that the process of bringing the Chinagateway development to Westwood Park was on hold at the moment, he added that once the Chinese economy starts to pick up again, then the project would be tackled with "renewed vigour."

The confirmation that all parties are still interested in the economy-boosting masterplan is a welcome shot in the arm to a borough which has inevitably suffered a number of headline-making blows thanks to the credit crunch.

Further development of the Grand Arcade, the former police HQ, and old town hall site, turning the one-time Way We Were Museum into offices and introducing art and heritage elements to the revamped Trencherfield Mill have all been put on hold due to the recession.

And earlier this month it was also revealed that the A49 link road from Warrington Road to Westwood, which is a key part of the Chinagateway project, had also been shelved because of the economic downturn.

But most, if not all of these plans, have not been cancelled, only put on hold through these straitened times.
And Lord Smith was keen to stress that this applied to the textile city blueprint too.

There have been two years of talks between the council and London-based China Gateway International Plc along with Chinamex, China's official foreign trade body.

Plans for the site include manufacturing and marketing, warehouse, research and development facilities, offices and a hotel. Despite the two sides' agreeing terms the £10m "sale" of the site has so far not gone through.

And China Gateway International Plc has certainly prioritised another Chinagate-way scheme in Manston, Thanet, over the Wigan proposal.
It was given planning consent by Thanet District Council for a 1.4 million sq ft site in the area last October, where it said "a significant part" had already been pre-let.

But Lord Smith said: "It is true to say that the Chinagateway plan is not moving forward at this moment.
"But we still hope that once the Chinese economy is back on track – and there are signs that it is beginning to get there – that we will address the matter with renewed vigour. We have an important relationship with Chinamex and I recently received a new year's greeting from its chairman Hao.

"Any suggestion that the deal is off is an exaggeration. This is still an opportunity for Wigan and the North West as a whole."

• Last Updated: 21 April 2009 4:03 PM
• Source: Wigan Observer