Big Places for Everyone planning application Broadbent Moss

Travel on the tram from Oldham towards Shaw and Crompton Metrolink stop and you’ll notice the rows of terraced homes suddenly fall away into grass verges and fields. That could soon change.

Developers have submitted detailed plans for a new housing estate with almost 250 homes on the former greenbelt site at Broadbent Moss. Kellen Homes Limited plans to build a new ‘walkable neighbourhood’ on land South Of Bullcote Lane with 248 dwellings, new roads, and public green space. 

The designs are the first part of 1,450 new homes planned for the site under Places for Everyone, a cross-council agreement trying to boost house-building in the Greater Manchester region to tackle the housing crisis. 

The scheme is split across a consortium of four different developers – Kellen Homes Limited, Grasscroft Homes and Property Limited, Annice Douglas and Mathew Halliwell. 

Kellen’s designs feature 80 private market homes, including 27 two-beds, 47 three-beds, and six four-beds. They also intend to build 168 affordable homes over two phases, with a total of 32 one-beds, 54 two-beds, 76 three-beds, and six four-beds. 

Once the build is complete, the affordable homes – which will be a mixture of shared ownership, affordable and social rent – will be taken over by a registered social housing provider. Kellen is apparently still in negotiations to find the right provider. 

Each home will feature one or two driveway parking spaces, and the new neighbourhood will be joined to nearby Royton through a new spine road. 

A planning statement submitted by Ashton Hale on behalf of Kellen Homes stated: “It is acknowledged that the Site is located in a sensitive landscape setting that does not currently contain development. The design will focus on creating a sensitive transition between the landscape character of Broadbent Moss and the urban edge of Royton, employing soft landscaping and appropriate size and scaling as key drivers in achieving this.” 

The decision to include Broadbent Moss and Beal Valley in Places for Everyone, which means the area lost its greenbelt status, previously sparked outrage among local campaign groups. The application has received several objections about congestion and the impact on open green space.