Controversial plan for 72 Ramsbottom homes refused
Bury Council voted against Eccleston Homes’ proposal to redevelop the former Mondi Paper Mill off Bridge Street at its planning meeting on Tuesday.
The scheme had been recommended for approval by planning officers, however, councillors opted to reject the application due to traffic and flooding concerns. A failure to meet the council’s 25% requirement for affordable housing was also mentioned during the meeting but was not included in the formal list of reasons for refusal.
David Marno, head of development management at Bury Council, noted that The Environment Agency, Drainage Section and United Utilities had no objections to the proposed development and its flood mitigation plans.
Only two councillors voted for the application in the end, with four voting against and three abstaining.
If it had been approved, Eccleston Homes would have constructed 73 homes on the seven-acre brownfield site. The homes would have been a mix of 19 apartments, 24 semi-detached houses and 29 detached dwellings. The homes ranged from having just one bedroom to having four.
Of those homes, 10 would have been designated affordable – eight short of the 25% required by the council.
In plans submitted by Lichfields, the development would have retained the former paper mill’s chimney and converted two of the remaining buildings into homes. One derelict building would have been demolished.
There would have been 138 parking spaces as well as 26 garages for residents to use.
The application’s reference number with Bury Council is 65844.
Good luck Eccleston at Appeal. This is a sustainable brownfield site in an excellent location, close to local services. It has been an eyesore for years and is in great need of regeneration. How many more boxes does it need to tick to convince Bury Members. No doubt it will cost Bury rate payers to fight the Appeal having been recommended for approval on policy grounds. Local politics in play?
By Christopher Stroud
Knock the chimney down and build. I can’t believe how expensive Bury Council tax is and councillers consider they know more than their professional advisers and are spending Council money to prove it. There’s a pothole at the end of my road about 9in deep.
By chris
Clearly not that sustainable if the developer cant meet the 25% requirement to provide affordable housing… Not to mention the design of the house types which would have a detrimental impact on the conservation area, with something more sympathetic (i.e. no render, dormers) that would site more comfortably adjacent the ELR and Bridge Street. This would of been a missed opportunity to design something which would enhance the character of Ramsbottom than that of ‘off-the-peg’ substandard house types… Its a shame Bury Council did not include this site within the recent Town Plan appraisal.
By Anonymous