BURY business chiefs have been given their say on the massive £150 million proposals to transform the town's busy Mill Gate centre.

And questions raised at the latest meeting of the Bury Economic Forum included whether the town needs more retail provision and whether the revamp would head off an exit by some town centre businesses.

Around 25 delegates drawn from the town's business community and organisations attended the meeting at Businesslodge. They were able to view two separate presentations, Bury But Better from Paul Allen, planning policy manager with Bury Council, and Bury Town Centre Redevelopment from Nic Deeny, development executive with Westfield Shoppingtowns which is behind the ambitious plans.

Following the presentations, there was a lively question and answer session. Among the main points were:

Concern about existing congestion and the fact that businesses are considering moving out of the town centre; will the proposed redevelopment help or hinder?

Does Bury need more retail provision? Apparently both private and public sector consultants agree that it does.

The projects will create 1,500 permanent and 2,000 short term new jobs within Bury. Local companies will be given the opportunity to tender for the construction and other related work

Concern over parking arrangements, particularly during the construction phase. This will be resolved by building additional parking spaces at an early stage.

Speaking on behalf of Bury Economic Forum, Kay Gregson said: "Overall, the tone of the meeting was very upbeat and positive and the comments put forward were constructive.

"If the redevelopment goes ahead, Bury will become a significant sub-regional retail centre. Consultations are ongoing with a wide variety of stakeholders and the developers have offered to return and keep the Business Forum updated as to progress.

The Forum is administered by the new North Manchester Chamber of Commerce whose Bury chairman is Peter Weidenbaum.