Hallmark seeks Rochdale green light
The developer is hoping to build around 50 homes on the former Oakenrod Primary School site off Bury Road.
Architect Nicol Thomas is working with Hallmark on the scheme. The site, bound on the opposite side by the River Roch, is now vacant and overgrown.
A consent dating back to 2007 allowed for 29 houses and 36 apartments at the site but was never implemented.
Prior to the current submission, pre-application discussions for 43 houses were received favourably, according to the applicant, for whom Nicol Thomas has redesigned the scheme in line with suggestions.
The professional team also includes Earth Environmental & Geotechnical, heritage advisor Ashley Brogan, transport planner SCP, and viability assessor Roger Hannah.
Hallmark’s intention is for three-bedroom houses to make up around half the site, with a small number of one-bed homes, with the remainder having two and four bedrooms. In order to reduce on-street parking, two parking spaces will be included in each home’s boundary plot.
In a notable feature, the developer says the site would be suitable for an Archimedes screw that will be driven by the flow of the Roch, turning a turbine that will create green electricity for the site. While the Archimedes screw is mentioned in the planning statement, the application’s energy statement goes on to say that micro-hydro energy generation has not been considered by consultant EnergyCounsel.
To find out more, see application reference 22/01068/FUL on Rochdale Council’s planning portal.
A hydropower scheme isn’t mentioned in the energy strategy statement; in fact it was discounted along with PV and GSHP. Every housing development of this type should include PV and GSHP/SWHP as standard. The Council need to amend their requirements. The developer also does not have the required abstraction licence from the Environment Agency to allow the hydropower scheme to take water – all seems like the usual green-washing hot air to me.
By Des
This is pretty sustainable site with the town centre, bus, train and metrolink within 10 minutes walk and two supermarkets even closer. Should this level of car use be encouraged in the development?
By Local Interest