A trader has admitted she is “scared” of the impact of the relocation of the bus station, as major works in the town centre cause disruption.
Lancashire County Council is currently working to remove bus shelters from Peel Street and provide short stay car parking there, following the opening of the new £6.4m bus station at Crawshaw Street.
Council bosses have sought this week to reassure shoppers and traders that Accrington remains open for business while the works are being carried out. However, the manager of an iconic Accrington bakers which is going up for auction next month, has revealed her fears for the future.
Janice Bardsley, manager of Manning’s Bakery, said they do not yet know how the potential sale of the building will affect them.
She said: “The bakery has been here for more than 20 years. We’re scared. We lost a lot of trade when the bus station moved.
“They’re doing a lot of work on the units at the moment and the roof has just been done and posters have gone up in the empty shop windows advertising their rental prices.
“It’s terrible what’s happened to the trade in the town.”
It comes after the Observer revealed last week that more than 50 market hall traders have signed a petition claiming the relocation of the bus station away from Peel Street is ‘crippling’ trade.
Coun Clare Cleary, Hyndburn council’s cabinet member for the town centre, said: “The Market is trading as normal while the Peel Street work is ongoing and the council will continue to support all its traders on the outside market – including the outside kiosk – during the period of disruption due to these important works.
“Following meetings with our traders, the vast majority have reassured the council that they are here for the long haul and have no intention of going anywhere.”
Coun Cleary added the council was putting plans in place to modernise and improve the outside market and were consulting with traders.
She said: “This includes traders speaking with the architects involved in the Townscape Heritage Initiative to look at how the market can be improved for the future, as the Peel Street plans are part of the wider Townscape Heritage Initiative Improvement Scheme.”
Retail units up for sale
Four retail units at 5 to 11 Peel Street are up for sale at an auction next month with a guide price of £50,000.
They include Manning’s Bakery at 5 Peel Street, which currently has a 10-year lease which began in May 2008 with a current rent of £10,000 per year.
Another unit at 7 Peel Street is let to a limited company on a 10-year lease from July 2016 with a £6,000-a-year rent.
The Frank Ogden jewellery store building, which closed down in 2015 after 91 years of trading, is also among lots available.
The family jewellers, on the corner of Blackburn Road and Peel Street, closed for good before Christmas. The four-storey building has a guide price of £120,000.
The buildings will go up for sale at the Barton Lounge in the AJ Bell Stadium, on Stadium Way, Manchester on Tuesday, September 13 from 12noon.
Hyndburn Conservative leader Coun Tony Dobson, said: “The town centre is too large with too much capacity for shopping in the 21st century in a town like Accrington.
"I think the fact that they are having to send them to auction is a perfect example of this and I can only hope that somebody will buy them and do something with them.
“We are already seeing an impact and concerns raised by traders over the impact that the bus station move has had on retailers. It just shows how difficult trade can be.”
