Simpson replaced Pam Smith as chief executive. Credit: PNW
7 Mar 2022, 17:07
Dan Whelan
The council’s leader Elise Wilson and newly installed chief executive Caroline Simpson spoke to Place North West about maintaining momentum and putting people at the heart of the borough’s regeneration efforts.
Stockport already has a pipeline of potentially transformative projects underground, but the borough is not going to rest on its laurels.
“I think the next 12 months are going to blow you away,” Wilson said.
“I’m really clear that what I’m doing for Stockport is driving change, doing stuff and making things happen that is going to benefit the people of Stockport. Nothing’s going to get in my way of doing that.”
Wilson will be aided on her quest by Simpson, who replaced Pam Smith as chief executive at the beginning of the year.
Smith left to join Newcastle City Council after a four-and-a-half-year stint that saw Stockport become one of the most exciting development hotspots in Greater Manchester.
Projects that progressed during her tenure include offices at Stockport Exchange, the residential redevelopment of Weir Mill, and the £120m overhaul of Stockport bus station, among many more. Much of the regeneration in the town has been driven by the Mayoral Development Corporation, established on Smith’s watch in 2019.
Now, the new chief executive is keen to pick up where her predecessor left off.
“If there’s one thing we’ve got to do in Stockport it’s keep the momentum going,” said Caroline Simpson. “We cannot sit and just think about the next three years. We’ve got big ambitions in Stockport, we’ve got resilience and we’ve really got the capacity to keep going at this.”
Read more about Stockport’s development pipeline
Stockport Debenhams could be demolished to pave the way for a new hospital. Credit: via Stockport Council
Simpson continued: “We’ve already got the next pipeline underground and the Mayoral Development Corporation is about to launch a major next phase over the next few months.”
As work on this closely guarded batch of projects continues behind the scenes, Simpson insists that the council will continue to take a holistic approach to development.
“We can’t just focus on housing, we can’t just focus on commercial space, we can’t just focus on healthcare.
“You have to think about it in the context of the place and move on all fronts all the time. That’s really tough, but it’s the only way to move a place forward.”
One scheme with the potential to transform Stockport is Project Hazel, a plan to develop a £500m hospital in the town centre.
“This is a project that’s not just about health, it’s about leveling up,” Simpson said.
“It’s about the regeneration of towns and it’s about a new model of healthcare.”
The proposal, which is currently sitting with the government, could provide the blueprint for similar projects going forward if Whitehall chooses to back it, according to Wilson.
“Ultimately, the government wants to see something happen and be able to then go ‘here’s the pilot’.
“[The government should] listen to Stockport because it’s pitching those ideas and the holistic approach. You listen to Stockport because we deliver.”
While it is exciting to see new developments popping up across the borough, the most important part of Stockport’s regeneration strategy is people, Simpson says.
“We’ve got to have these flagship projects because it gives people confidence, but at the same time we do not lose track of [the fact that] it’s all about people and it’s all about our communities.”
Wilson defended her record on heritage. Credit: via Stockport Council
Stockport residents live in one of the most politically fractious boroughs in the region, which will inevitably lead some to claim that the Labor-run council has not paid enough attention to them on recent issues. Particularly with regard to heritage.
There was vocal opposition to Capital&Centric’s Weir Mill development over concerns about the impact it would have on the town’s famous viaduct. And the majority of people surveyed on the proposed relocation of the town’s library services from its heritage home on Wellington Road to former retail units at Merseyway objected.
Read more about Stockport’s Central Library saga
Wilson maintains the decision to go ahead with the library move was the correct one for residents and defended her track record on heritage.
“Under my leadership, we’ve saved St Thomas’s workhouse, we have saved Weir Mill and spent £8m on the Underbanks,” she said.
Having won the library battle in the face of vocal opposition, Wilson is determined to look ahead. She is single minded in her pursuit of a better future for Stockport
“Stockport is a place so dear to my heart. I love this place and I think it’s going to be even better. I don’t see anything getting in the way of that.”
This level of passion from a leader is rousing for residents but could easily be daunting for Simpson. There will no doubt be occasions when she will have to reign Wilson in but the new chief executive is ready for the various battles that lie ahead on the road to recreating Stockport.
“Every day brings problems, doesn’t it? But every day we find our way through those problems and we move things forward.”
