Oldham objects to plans for 1,380 homes in neighbouring Rochdale

A new ‘garden community’ of 1,380 homes in Rochdale has been formally objected to by neighbouring Oldham Council. Last month, Redrow Homes submitted proposals for the huge Stakehill Garden neighbourhood development, close to Slattocks and Castleton, south of Rochdale.

The developer said the site’s ‘special landscape qualities’ will be celebrated with ‘a healthy balance between landscape and built development’.
Redrow are seeking full planning permission for 233 homes and outline permission for a further 1,147 along with a local centre, an extension to St Johns Primary School, a multi-use sports pitch and a new access from Thornham New Road.

The site is entirely within the borough of Rochdale but neighbouring Oldham Council have objected as they believe the plans do not comply with strategic plans for the Greater Manchester region, in particular, the Atom Valley innovation cluster.

Atom Valley is intended to be a 17 million sq ft development, which straddles areas of Oldham, Rochdale, and Bury. Members of OIdham’s planning committee last week supported the objection, which had been worded by the borough’s head of planning, Peter Richards.

He said: “Oldham Council objects to the application submitted by Redrow Homes, on the basis that it does not comply with the proposed policy of the
modified Places for Everyone joint development plan. While many of the criteria are of a detailed, application site based nature which Rochdale Borough Council will assess, three in particular are of a more strategic basis that affect the whole allocation and so Oldham borough.

“Oldham Council is concerned are not being properly addressed by the submitted application. Given this site is part of the Atom Valley innovation cluster, it is not appropriate that an application has been submitted for such a large number of homes without first considering the wider implications for the whole allocation, and it runs the risk of this key development allocation coming forward without the necessary infrastructure improvements and without
the planning and phasing of those improvements.”

The site falls under part of the Stakehill allocation in the Places for Everyone plan. That allocation is a cross-boundary part of the plan covering areas in both Rochdale and Oldham, with residential development proposed to the north of Stakehill Industrial Estate, while employment development is proposed to the south and east of the estate.

The Stakehill Garden planning application will be deliberated on by Rochdale Council after a period of public consultation.