Change proposed for Stakehill offices
Specialist provider Meadows Care is seeking a temporary change of use to secondary education at the Middleton building, which could provide it with the outdoor space it currently lacks.
Meadows Care runs the independent Meadows School, which provides secondary education to pupils with a history of disrupted educations.
The organisation currently runs its school at Egerton House, Wardle Road but said the site is no longer fit for purpose – not only is it receiving an increasing volume of referrals, it cannot provide any outdoor exercise space.
At present, Meadows has to book and transport pupils to other locations for outdoor activity. The Link House site in Middleton, which houses a 6,671 sq ft two-storey building in a plot of around 20,000 sq ft, would be able to provide this on-site through a multi-use games area and outdoor yard.
Link House currently has 34 car parking spaces ,which would be reduced to 19 in this project, A 15-year change of use is sought, after which Meadows would convert that space back to parking.
Although not a huge square footage, the project fits within a recent narrative whereby education providers are an increasingly important part of the office occupation picture. In one major scheme, Mereside Education Trust applied this year to take over a 33,000 sq ft former Barclays office in Cheshire.
According to the planning statement provided by advisor Savills, Link House was last occupied around 18 months ago by MID Digital Solutions. No exterior changes are suggested.
Savills pointed out that although the site is within an allocate primary employment site, there is a proven lack of need for this specific site – it has been unsuccessfully marketed as offices..
The firm adds that there is ample employment-led supply elsewhere in the locality – Stakehill remains a popular industrial-led location and is a vital part of the Northern Gateway aspirations across Greater Manchester’s northern boroughs.
Meadows headteacher Paula Forth said in a design & access statement that “the conversion of Link House into a school represents an opportunity to repurpose an underutilised building while providing much-needed educational facilities for the local community.
“The proposed development will create a safe, accessible, and environmentally responsible space for students to learn and grow.” The school is rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, but the applicant said it would never be able to improve on that without outdoor space.
The plans can be viewed on Rochdale Council’s planning portal with the reference 25/00288/FUL.
