SEVERAL budget supermarkets have expressed an interest in being part of the transformation of Radcliffe town centre.

As previously reported, plans to create a new retail quarter and residential properties in the town are currently undergoing consul- tation.

The retail area would see a budget supermarket built on the site of the current bus station, with smaller retail units alongside it.

David Rudlin, from regeneration specialists Urbed, has revealed that several firms are already interested in being part of the scheme.

Speaking at last week’s meeting of Radcliffe local area partnership, he said: “Budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl have been looking for sites in Radcliffe for a few years now. We have carried out soft market testing and they are still interested in coming here and being part of the development.

“What is attracting the businesses is Asda and the large number of customers it has. They want all the customers to go across Pilkington Way and visit them on the new site. That can only be good for the town centre.”

But Mr Rudlin warned that it could be several years before the scheme comes to fruition because of the economy. Previous proposals to develop the town centre had to be scrapped in 2008 when the developers pulled out, blaming the recession.

Mr Rudlin said: “Because of public spending cuts, we are struggling to make this add up. It is marginal whether it is viable in the current economy.

“It won’t take long if the market rises for this to happen — we are talking two to five years. The market is particularly bad at the moment, so we will have to wait.”

Consultation on the proposals runs until Monday, February 21.

The plans can be viewed at an exhibition at Radcliffe library in Stand Lane, which will be manned by members of the project team from 10am to 7pm today and Monday. Alternatively, visit bury. gov.uk/radclifferegeneration