Rochdale approves Challenger’s £4.9m scheme

The Bolton-based developer is set to construct 40 affordable apartments off Rochdale Road East in Heywood.

Designed by B2 Architecture Limited, the apartment complex will sit on .4 acres of brownfield. The vacant lot used to be the home of a car wash, which closed in 2017. Going back to the 1870s, it was the site of cotton-spinning company Eagle Mill.

The design of the scheme is meant to reflect the site’s heritage, with red brick being used to evoke the character of the old mills.

Challenger Building Services’ project will have 15 one-bedroom and 25 two-bedroom apartments spread out across four storeys. There will be undercroft parking as well, accommodating up to 47 cars and 40 bicycles. On top of the undercroft will be a communal garden.

Challenger’s managing director, Richard Hutchinson, said he felt the development would help the community.

“The market in towns like Heywood is often under-served, with developers focused on what they perceive as ‘hot-spots,’” Hutchinson said. “We see great opportunity in stable communities like this and are pleased to be adding value to Heywood.”

The council’s approval is conditional on the scheme completing a Section 106 agreement that a £61,969 financial contribution is made towards a formal sports area at Heywood Sports Village, public open space at Queens Park or a new allotment off Queens Park Road.

Consultants on the scheme included Satplan on planning, Mode on transport planning, Echo Acoustics on noise assessment and SLR on air quality.

Challenger is on an approval streak at the moment, also securing consent for a 35-apartment affordable housing development in Runcorn earlier this month.

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These kind of mid-density developments on pockets of brownfield outside the core are exactly the right way to tackle affordable housing.

By Rich X

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