The Greater Manchester borough that feels like the poor relation with residents divided on regeneration plan

It sometimes feels like Tameside is the poor relation of the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs. While neighbouring areas have enjoyed varying levels of development and regeneration over the last few years, Tameside appears to be struggling.

The historic town centre in Ashton is in decline. High street shop closures, complaints of anti-social behaviour and an overall lack of investment in the area compared to other Greater Manchester boroughs have taken their toll, especially on the town’s market traders.

Things only feel more bleak when you look at what is happening in Tameside’s neighbouring areas. Stockport town centre, for example, is currently undergoing a £1 billion transformation, has a thriving arts scene and it repeatedly ranks among the best places to live, buy your first house and, most recently, retire.

But there are some signs of change for Ashton thanks to a £20million Levelling Up grant. Last month, plans for a total revamp of the market square were given the greenlight by the Tameside council that centre around a large canopy, improved spaces for market traders and gardens.

We went to Ashton to see what day-to-day life is like in the town centre and what the people who work there think about Tameside council’s grand plan to turn things around.

‘I used to love this town’

The problems affecting Ashton town centre are visible. When we visited on a Wednesday lunch there was only one outdoor trader selling men’s workwear. The rest of the covered outdoor stalls were empty and instead occupied by groups of teenagers.

The owner of the solitary stall open that day was Muhammad Naseer, who has been trading at Ashton market for 20 years, but now his future there is uncertain. He said: “Sometimes I don’t make any sales. It makes me want to cry. It’s very bad.”

A passer-by who overheard our conversation with the trader, interjected: “Since Covid, I’ve counted 33 shops that have closed down. I used to love this town. They’re pulling all this down, for what? To put something else up? Alright, it may be modern, but it is still going to be the same people in the same place. It doesn’t matter what you change.”

In terms of retail outside of the market, there is little reason for people to come to Ashton, traders say. Most of the big high street names have left the town centre over the past few years, including Marks & Spencer, Next, which moved into retail parks outside the town centre, and Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Topshop, which went into administration.

The shops that remain are overwhelmingly either charity shops, discount shops or fast food, with a few exceptions like jewellers, hairdressers and betting shops.

There is more variety in the indoor market, which has a wide range of products and traders, including hot food stalls. Business seems to be much better here than on the outdoor market as there were plenty of customers browsing the stalls. But now their future is also uncertain.

‘It must lose money hand over fist’

The biggest concern for indoor traders is the 8.7% rent increase that Tameside council introduced in Ashton and Hyde over the summer. Fees have also risen in car parks across Tameside. In Ashton, it has risen from £2 per day to £9, which traders say is deterring customers and traders alike, who have had to use cheaper private car parks.

As sweet stall owner, who preferred to remain anonymous, summarised: “They put our rent up, they put our service charge up, the electric’s gone up three or four times, people are leaving, there’s empty stalls. The council couldn’t care less. Wouldn’t you think they’d keep it low to keep us all here?”

Michael Booth has been trading at Ashton market for 47 years, a job he inherited from his father. He owns Brian’s Curtains and has a stall in one of the outdoor kiosks, as well as a stall inside the Market Hall selling textiles.

He said: “You think to yourself, well the council have got to consider the fact that the market is empty, a lot of shops are closing, the market hall has a lot of stalls empty, so they have a meeting and what can we do to help retailers and services in the centre of the town? So they raise the car parking, from £2 per day to £9 and they make everyone pay a rental increase of 8% and they backdate it to earlier this year.

“It makes me think that they made a mistake in the first place, that they’re going to get rid of the market. I think Tameside as a council don’t really want a market, it’s a liability, they have to staff it, it must lose money hand over fist.”

The sweet stall owner added: “People who work in here have had to move because they can’t afford to pay it. I can’t see what’s going to happen. It’s just gone down hill bad. Then you’ve got all the drunks and the down-and-outs, they’ve got nowhere to go. They come here because they’ve got nothing to do. This is how it is. Constantly.”

‘There are some bad characters here’

Another common complaint among the traders is the anti-social behaviour on the square, including drug use. Things had gotten so bad that a three-year Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was imposed on the town centre in October 2022. Traders say that things are slightly better as a result, but the problem persists.

A grocery stall holder, who wished to be referred to as Sam, has only been trading at the Market Square kiosks for a year, but says that he has witnessed people have drug-related seizures outside his business on three separate occasions. Not only is this bad for business, he says, it is also bad for the community.

Sam said: “This year that I’ve been here, the business is still going, I still make some trade. But from the community, it’s not a very good look. There are some really bad characters here regularly, showing a very bad example to the youth, which is our future.

“There are not a lot of people who look at it like that. I just want to see more businesses coming here, making it easier for businesses to come, to trade. By the look of it, it’s not happening.”

Tameside Council said in a response to Manchester World that 22 fixed penalty notices have been issued by officers for breaching the PSPO.  There are also nine Criminal Behaviour Orders in place against individuals banning them from the town centre.

The council added: “The Ashton town centre GMP Neighbourhood Team have provided feedback from their conversations with local traders who in the main have been complimentary of the work being done in enforcing the PSPO.  A constant theme of those conversations is that things are improving in the town centre and those who have been the source of nuisance in recent times seem to be getting the message that this behaviour will not be tolerated, and enforcement action will continue.”

Will the new market help?

There are varying levels of optimism among the traders about how these plans will affect the town centre and their businesses. Most of them welcome the change but believe that the new market does not really address the root of the problems, namely the anti-social behaviour and the lack of other shops outside the market.

They are also concerned about what will happen to their businesses while the new market is being built. Traders in the permanent kiosks on Market Square will also have to reapply. Tom Bennison, who works on Wilson’s Fruit and Veg stall outside the Market Hall, told Manchester World that the traders will be given temporary containers outside the B&M.

He said: “We’ve had a look at what they look like. I think it will look nice. Whether it will bring people into the market, I’m not too sure. They’ve just put the parking up to £9 a day, so that scares people away. Apart from that, it does seem good. It’s just we don’t know how it will affect us when they’re building it.”

Some traders also say that the shift towards a food market model, similar to more affluent areas like Altrincham or Stockport, would not really benefit the local people.

Sam said: “You build a nice fancy market, you put in nice traders, good quality food like Italian pizza, and then you put all these charity shops around us, and Poundland – who is going to come here and buy a pizza for £15 when they can get a frozen one in Iceland for £1.50?”

Michael Booth said: “We went to a meeting last night with the manager of the market and the head of the development team. They kept talking about the vision of Tameside, what is the vision of Tameside, and the vision of Tameside is food, drink and local produce. So I’m afraid textiles don’t fit into that sort of niche.

“If I was 34, I would be quite worried, but I’m 64 so I’m not overly worried. I have place in the market hall as well, so I may find retirement or semi-retirement is forced upon me. But that’s life.”

What has the council said?

In a response to Manchester World, Tameside Council confirmed that existing stall-holders in the outdoor kiosks will have to reapply for the 10 new kiosks being built as part of the regeneration plans.

The council said: “Ashton Market Square is undergoing an exciting regeneration to create a high-quality public square and a feature canopy which will contain new trading kiosks and support a wide variety markets and other event activities.

“Existing tenants have been kept fully aware of the plans and have been extensively engaged throughout the process. At the appropriate time, all will have the opportunity to formally express their interest in one of the new kiosks, before the opportunity is presented to the wider public. Only traders that currently occupy one of the existing fixed kiosks will have to reapply.”

Tameside Council said that car park fees were “reviewed as part of a wider improvement plan to modernise payment methods and ensure tariffs support town centres.” It said that the new rates will deter long-stay users, such as workers and commuters, from taking up spaces for short-stay users. Instead, long stay users are encouraged to use all-day car parks for £4.

The council added: “The rates will bring Tameside more in line with parking charges in other Greater Manchester boroughs and should help to increase the income available to fund highways improvements in the borough such as pot-hole repairs.”

The response also acknowledged the stall rent increase. The council said: “We understand the financial challenges faced by taxpayers, businesses and indeed ourselves as a local authority. There have been no increases for the last four years and that burden has been borne by taxpayers and it should be noted we do not subsidise any other businesses, all of whom are struggling in the economic crisis. We believe this is a fair and reasonable decision that doesn’t simply maximise income generation through our market traders but supports them in a balanced way.

“We will continue to communicate with traders throughout the works and update them continuously as we move forward with the plans for the square.”