BOLTON town centre definitely needs development like the £6.5 million office project planned close to the town’s new rail and bus interchange.

If planning permission goes ahead, the five-storey building will be at the junction of Great Moor Street and Newport Street and will change the town’s skyline.

Already, the £48 million interchange is taking shape and this latest plan, along with the further development at The Market Place, sounds a positive note for the town in 2015.

Such investment brings more workers to the town centre, which acts as a boost for all businesses and gives a new central vibrancy. However, it’s a fact that, like many other towns and cities, Bolton is blighted by empty retail units while more pound shops and charity shops regularly spring up.

It’s obviously a sign of the economic times, but the latest suggested investment offers, hopefully, a brighter look to the future.