First Look at new Life Centre

First Look at new Life Centre


It’s time to welcome Wigan Council’s exciting new public services ‘hub’. The Information and Learning Zone officially opened its doors to the public on Monday 9 January.



Situated between Hewlett Street and The Wiend, next to Wigan Town Hall, the 6,500 square foot building will be the culmination of the council’s £217M Life Centre project.



It offers residents of the borough a new ‘gateway’ to all public services in the borough through a state-of-the-art customer contact centre. The vision will see any member of the public with a query about services provided by the council, housing, health and other partners have it resolved quickly and in-one place.



The centre contains a new public library, including children’s and reference sections along with community space and offices for various voluntary sector organisations.



The new zone follows on the heels of the Healthy Living Zone – which opened over the summer and incorporates new leisure complex, including swimming pools and gym, as well as council offices. Both sites have been built for the council by construction company Morgan Sindall and will be operated by the council’s FM partner Hochtief facilites Management.



The town centre campus is also complimented by a network of local Life Centres in communities across the borough.



Wigan Council’s Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Cllr Chris Ready joined Life Centre project manager Carl Taylor for a tour of the new building ready for opening. Cllr Ready says: “This fantastic new building will complete the Life Centre campus and gives us a new approach to serving our communities.



“Residents of the borough have told us that they want us to make it easier and quicker for them to contact the council and other public services and the Life Centre is our response. We have set ourselves the target of answering 80 per cent of inquiries at the first meeting in the first year, and improve after that. “The Life Centre has been built on time and to budget. It is particularly pleasing that during difficult economic times the council and its partners have been able to complete a major regeneration project that has not only brought jobs and investment to Wigan but will act as a beacon to further attract opportunities to our borough.



“The council’s ambition is to create a ‘confident place with confident people’ and we believe the new Life Centre typifies this.”