Drilling work set to begin as part of town centre regeneration plans

The works will form part of the preparation for the £90m transformation of St Helens town centre.

The Hardshaw Centre is set to remain open until the end of May ahead of it being cleared for the demolition.

However, investigations need to take place beforehand.

Drilling rig

St Helens Council and develop partner the English Cities Fund (ECF) say these will include the transformation project's main contractor VINCI Building using a drilling rig to bore 10-metre-deep test holes at five separate locations around the outside of the centre.

All works will be planned so that all major traffic routes and pedestrian walkways will be either maintained or suitably diverted.

READ MORE: St Helens town centre plans - a detailed look at what they include

The council adds that the remaining occupants of the Hardshaw Centre - which include the likes of Heron Foods, Waterfields and One Below - will have vacated the building by summer this year.

The site will then be closed off with protective hoardings and a strip-out process will take place before the building’s demolition in autumn 2024.

As reported last week, following what the council says has been "extensive options assessment by partners and key stakeholders", Chalon Way West has been selected as the preferred location from which bus services will operate during the construction of the town’s new, modern multi-modal transport interchange.

Phase one construction

The temporary bus hub will form a key part of the strategy to ensure travel around the town centre "remains seamless" when the main phase one construction work begins later this year, adds the council.

To pave the way the temporary bus hub proposals at Chalon Way West, which includes a need to accommodate the requisite number of bus stands, it will be necessary to remove 10 existing trees.

A notice is being issued to inform the public and to explain how St Helens Borough Council and its partners will ensure the safety of residents when the tree removal works begin later this month.

Replacement trees will be replanted on a 2:1 ratio at suitable locations around St Helens town centre and this is in addition to the 117 new trees and 265m of hedgerow that will be introduced in the town centre as part of the main Phase One development.

Temporary bus hub

In a statement, Cllr David Baines, leader of St Helens Borough Council said: “People have told us how keen they are to see progress on delivery of the existing phase one regeneration scheme and the site investigation works are one of the first physical signs of the construction phase starting in earnest.

This area of Chalon Way West will be used for the temporary bus hub (Image: St Helens Star)

“We are pleased to say that following a detailed review alongside our partners, Chalon Way West has been selected as the ideal location for a temporary bus hub that will help to keep St Helens moving during the town centre’s exciting transformation.

"With easy access to shops, amenities, and employment areas in the town centre it is both the most cost-effective and least disruptive option and we look forward to work beginning to create the temporary hub as soon as possible.

“We do however recognise that any major town centre regeneration work will cause some inevitable temporary disturbance, for which we apologise in advance. We will seek to minimise any harm caused in every way possible, including through the provision of environmental enhancements and mitigations.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure St Helens town centre is fit for the future, offering a well-connected and attractive place for people to live, work, visit and invest.”

An artist's image of the new market hall that is planned for St Helens town centre (Image: ECF)

Planning applications for complementary elements of the temporary bus hub – including a ticket office and driver welfare facilities – will be submitted in the coming weeks ahead of an announcement on a comprehensive town centre interim movement strategy later this year, the council adds.

No further details of its make-up have been released at this stage.

In December 2023, St Helens Borough Council and its partner The English Cities Fund submitted a reserved matters planning application for the first phase of the regeneration of St Helens.

The planning application covers 24-acres that will be transformed with a new Market Hall flanked by a mixed-use area set around a 120-bedroom globally branded hotel, 64 stunning new homes, a 75,000 sq ft office and 11,000 sq ft of modern retail space, along with extensive high quality public spaces.

A further reserved matters planning application will be submitted later this year for the creation of the town centre’s new multi-modal transport interchange, which will be delivered with financial support from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.