All-clear for 130 houses in Oldham

Plans for the first phase of the Bellway’s ambitious 400-home vision for the former Shaw Distribution Centre off Linney Lane were approved by councillors on Wednesday.

Oldham Council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead to the scheme, which has had outline permission since March 2022.

The first phase of the project focuses on nearly 13 acres on the northern half of The Very Group’s former order processing and distribution site. The industrial mills that previously occupied the plot have been demolished, paving the way for Bellway to build 130 houses.

There will be 26 affordable, three-bedroom homes in the development. Of the remaining 104 market houses, 43 will have four bedrooms while 61 will have three.

Chester-based APD and TPM Landscaping designed the layout for the project. Credit: via planning documents

The number of homes has been reduced from an originally proposed 140 to 130. Previously there had been 28 affordable homes in the proposals, of which 12 were to be apartments. The apartment block was cut from the project prior to the committee meeting and all of the affordable homes were switched to being three-bedroom houses.

Access to the site will be from Linney Lane. Because the River Beal splits the site, a second Linney Lane access point will be needed for the 22 houses located on the other side of the river from the central part of the project.

In addition to the River Beal, there will be a balancing pond, with footpaths nearby.

ADP is the architect for the project. The project team also includes Asteer Planning, Red Acoustics, TPM Landscape, and Eddison.

You can learn more about the project by searching application reference number RES/350957/23 on Oldham Council’s planning portal.