I took the road to Wigan Pier last week, at the invitation of the Leader of the council, David Molyneux. Yes, I did visit the pier, though it’s just a wharf really, not a proper pier like Southwold.

It’s always fascinating for me to see what other councils do. Wigan town, population 110,000, is smaller than Ipswich (140,000) though the council area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is significantly larger at 330,000.

Wigan town centre is spread out.  It has empty shops, barbers, vape shops, mobile phone shops, lots of fast food shops and a big empty Debenhams.  Sound familiar?

Wigan Council clearly has access to more funding than Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) as their main town centre regeneration is a £135 million project called The Galleries.  Visitors are increasingly looking for a more diverse shopping and leisure offer that they can’t access online or out of town. They have demolished an old shopping mall and will replace it with a mixture of shops, leisure and housing, to provide that more diverse town centre.

The Galleries redevelopment promises a Hilton hotel, 464 homes and a multimedia centre with a cinema, ten-lane bowling alley and indoor mini-golf as well as shops and offices. There will also be a new market hall offer, including a food hall, cafe, co-working and workshop space, winter gardens with a landscaped outdoor space. The market hall will complete this year with the multi-media centre coming next year. Do you think a Market Hall would be a good addition for Ipswich?

One of Wigan’s biggest employers is Heinz beans, who fill up to three million tins of beans a day, well over a billion every year.  In Wigan the three main employment types are manufacturing, construction and Health & Social Care. The Health and Social Care sector is also strong in Ipswich, and most of the other industry types are broadly the same. The Ipswich Financial and Insurance sector employs eight times as many people as in Wigan and our logistic services are big employers too.

Wigan have a big investment in communities, having run a transformation programme for ten years which also includes the other 13 areas that are part of the council area.  Creating fair opportunities for all children, families, residents and businesses, they focus on hyper-local and do a lot of partnering, with the NHS, voluntary sector and faith groups.

When Wigan won the FA Cup in 2013, the song that took them there was the Monkees classic, “I’m a Believer”. This has continued with the Believe Square and the Believe Stars.

The Believe Stars celebrate people who have made a difference to Wigan. The stars are awarded to living residents of Wigan Borough who have used their platform for good. From major sports stars and actors, to medical professionals who have saved the lives of residents, there is an actual star cemented into Believe Square for each one – not quite as grand as the Hollywood version though.

The stars celebrate a range of people, from Actor Ian McKellen (best known for Gandalf), Roberto Martinez (the FA Cup Winning Manager) through to very local champions like Trish Green “Champion of homeless” and Dr Kate Fussell, Wigan’s First Female Surgeon. Keely Hodgkinson will be awarded a star with gold lettering for becoming women’s 800m Olympic champion!

Wigan is a Labour stronghold and it’s clear that long term progress has been made, and is still being made, in revitalising the town centre, growing employment and meeting the needs of residents. Can we do this in Ipswich? Well, I’m a believer on that one!

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