Planning for the future - Town centres

Changing shopping habits and the way retail and services are delivered means that the role of town centres needs to adapt.

8,700

The number of chain stores that closed in first half of 2021 in the UK

30.7%

online retail sales in
2021, compared with 3.4% in 2007

9

The number of Town Centres in the borough

10%

some town centres have vacancy levels above 10%

Key facts

• The Galleries shopping centre is being redeveloped to provide a wider mix of town centre uses including retail, leisure, commercial and residential uses.
• There are around 30 local centres across the borough providing shops and services to meet day to day needs.
• Despite increasing vacancy rates in some of our town centres, there are very low levels of vacant stores at Robin Retail Park in Wigan and Parsonage Retail Park in Leigh.