Dozens of new homes, and all the other planning decisions at latest Tameside town hall meeting

Dozens of new homes for Tameside have been approved at the latest town hall meeting.

Three housing schemes got the green light from the council’s planning panel, meaning almost 70 new homes will be built in the borough.

Two apartment blocks in the centre of Ashton and a housing estate in Mossley were given the nod by the panel, who met in Guardsman Tony Downes House on September 10. 

Ashton’s Wellington Street and Stamford Street Central will get apartment blocks with 12 and 33 flats respectively.

Over in Mossley, the progressing development for 25 new homes on the land of Prospect House – a former Victorian house and care home – was reduced. The challenging landscape and building costs led to the changes being made by the developer.

A controversial HMO was also thrown out by the panel, who criticised the ‘inadequate’ living conditions offered by the applicant.

Here is the detail of each application considered by the planning panel:

New apartment block for Ashton – APPROVED

A new apartment block will be built on vacant land in Ashton town centre.

The 12 apartments between Wellington Street and Wood Street in the Old Town Quarter received planning approval in October last year. The three-storey block plan was reduced in size from the original scheme of 14 apartments at four-storeys high.

The reason the application was brought back before the planning panel was to approve the financial contribution the developer, Mr Sunday Aderibigbe, would make to local infrastructure.

Some £87,360 towards affordable housing and £8,400 for off-site greenspace improvements for Section 106 funding was officially approved by councillors.

Energy storage facility in Dukinfield – APPROVED

A new energy storage facility will be built on open space, near industrial land in Dukinfield.

The battery box, off Ashton Road near the e Tudor Industrial Estate, will contain four batteries, lined up side by side. They would be 2.1m in height, 4.72m in length and have a depth of 1.8m. 

The energy storage system (ESS) imports electricity from the local electricity network when demand for electricity is low or when there are high levels of renewable energy available, according to planning papers. 

It then exports the electricity back to the grid when required during periods of high demand, providing a solution to the growing need for network flexibility.

The system is owned by AMP Clean Energy, who develops and operates renewable and low carbon energy facilities and flexible power assets across the UK.

The plan was approved by the panel.

Controversial HMO scheme – REFUSED

Controversial HMO off Oldham Road, Ashton. Credit: Tameside Council Planning Documents

A house of multiple occupation (HMO) has been built off Oldham Road in Ashton, but the council say they cannot operate due to the ‘inadequate’ living standards. 

The five-bedroom HMO forms one half of a semi-detached pair located at the junction of Oldham Road and Anglesey Road. But Tameside council planning officers had serious concerns over living standards and felt this development would be ‘overintensification’.

Officers recommended refusal for the plan.

Coun Sangita Patel told the panel how the area already suffers from a lack of parking. She was concerned the parking situation would be exacerbated by the site being opposite a school, with double yellow lines outside. 

Coun Patel concluded: “There is an already oversaturation of HMO on Oldham road which is changing the character of the area and putting pressure on the local infrastructure.”

The developer, Mr Scott Trow, felt it was ‘unfair’ the plan was being criticised by planning officers, claiming he was told they had met all the requirements by one council officer. The applicant added that it was their intention through this process to fully comply with standards.

Despite the developer’s arguments, the planning panel unanimously voted to refuse the application.

Outlining the reasons for refusal, a council report read: “Overall, the living arrangement, including provision of communal space and facilities is considered inadequate and disproportionate to the number of occupants. 

“The internal layout and subdivision of the property would create an overly institutionalised living environment, which would not encourage interaction among residents.”

Storage facility that burnt down alter rebuild plan  – DEFERRED

Aerial image of the fire at the old storage unit on Holland Street, Denton. Credit: Tameside Council

A warehouse destroyed in a fire three years ago will be rebuilt, but with a few changes.

Self Storage in Denton saw a large section of its industrial building destroyed by the blaze in 2021. Last year the local storage firm was granted permission to rebuild their scarred unit into a more environmentally friendly building.

The Holland Street site sits next to junction 24 of the M60 motorway where a major incident was declared back in February 2021 and smoke could be seen from the major road at the time.

Hundreds of firefighters descended onto the scene at the time of the incident. Last year the planning panel at Tameside council was told how the plans would see what is left of the building bulldozed and replace it with a five-storey warehouse containing storage units.

The scheme came back before the panel to change the approved opening times to 7am to 10pm for seven days a week. Previously the opening hours of the site were 7.30am to 9pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30am to 3.30pm on Sunday and Bank Holidays.

A decision on the proposal was deferred following an interruption from a woman who lives opposite the site. She says she didn’t get the chance to offer her objection. 

After the objector refused to leave the meeting, the panel decided to defer the decision until a later date so they could consider her objections. 

CGI of how the new storage unit on Holland Street, Denton could look once complete. Credit: Tameside Council Planning Documents

Apartment block plan scaled down – APPROVED

Location of 33-home apartment block in Ashton. Credit: Tameside Council Planning Documents

Dozens of new apartments will be built in a block in the centre of Ashton.

The vacant bathroom and retail showroom off Stamford Street Central will be converted into 33 flats over three floors, with four retail units underneath. This scheme, tabled by Stamford Living Ltd, would retain the frontage onto the high street and contain a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments within.

The building was last used as a home furnishing retail store, but the business closed in August 2022 and has not been used since.

The planning panel swiftly approved planning permission.

Housing estate scheme for Mossley sees house number reduced – APPROVED

The housing estate on the site of a former Victorian house and care home in Mossley will be smaller than planned.

Tameside council’s planning panel gave the green light to 25 homes on land off Stockport Road back in January 2022. The site previously housed Prospect House – a Victorian residence and former care home.

All the buildings have since been demolished, although the grounds had been left ‘undisturbed’.

It is currently under development and there is clear progress with plots occupying the frontage to Stockport Road. 

But the applicant, KMM Homes, went back before the planning panel to ask for permission to build two less homes than planned and increase the height of some of the homes to make sure the scheme stayed financially viable.

Planning papers say the site is ‘overgrown and unkempt’ and the site was challenging for building – which led to the change in the proposal from the developers.

The planning panel approved the minor changes.