Oldham expected to approve 283 homes
A pair of applications concerning the fate of two plots, the former site of Hartford Mill and the former Shaw Distribution Park, will go before the council’s planning committee next week, and could add almost 300 homes to Oldham.
Councillors have been recommended to approve both applications, which have conditions attached.
The former Shaw distribution centre
Approval has been recommended for Bellway Homes’s bid to build 190 homes, in a mix of mews, semi-detached, and detached properties at the Linney Lane site.
The scheme has been designed by APD on behalf of Bellway in conjunction with Great Places Housing Group. Pegasus Group is the scheme’s planning consultant.
Of the homes, 110 will be developed on behalf of the social housing provider.
Phase one of the scheme was granted permission in May 2023. Phase two would be built on the 17-acre southern half of the wider 30-acre site.
The project team comprises Pell Frischmann, TPM Landscape, Red Acoustics, JSP Sustainability, Rachel Hacking Ecology, E3P, Ascerta, and Nightingale Environmental.
Those interested in the application can view it using the reference number RES/353501/24 on Oldham Council’s planning portal.
The grade two-listed mill has been empty since 1991. Credit: Google Earth
The former Hartford Mill site
A near nine-acre plot off Oldham’s Block Lane has been earmarked for a 93-home residential development, and the council has been recommended to approve plans.
The outline application, submitted on landowner Barry Parker’s behalf by Serviam Planning, aims to find a new use for the land formerly dominated by the large grade two-listed Hartford Mill that has been demolished.
The mill had stood empty since 1991 and is privately owned by Parker. In 2020, an Oldham councillor called it a “death trap” in the build-up to its demolition.
Approval is sought for all matters relating to access, appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale.
The project team includes Arbtech, Eddisons, Martin Environmental Solutions, and Betts Hydro.
To view the application, use the reference number OUT/353664/24 on Oldham Council’s planning portal.
Social housing of 110 units out of a total of 190 on the Shaw Distribution Park site is not going to assist with the urgency to attract wealth creators into Oldham, who would hopefully bring money and employment into the borough. Similarly the Hartford Mill site is located in a generally low value housing area. It was claimed to have been marketed and sold for around £15 million some months back , that seems to be at odds with the details in the article- with 93 homes that’s around £150k a plot before you put a spade in the ground ???!!! Meanwhile over on Oldham’s Cowlishaw Farm site, which is in a much nicer location and where more expensive family homes ARE being built, it is rumoured that construction has stopped as nothing is selling. All in all, not much happening for Oldham at the moment.
By A. R.
So A.R. only the ‘Wealth creators’ are allowed to purchase or even rent a home in Shaw.
What about those younger generations who have lived in the town all their lives who through no fault if their own, despite doing as expected, going to school, going to college, getting a job, building a career, working hard, contributing to the economy, find themselves left in the wilderness when it comes to housing.
The development at Linney Lane is a disgrace.
£240,000 for a 2 bed semi detached, which has done nothing but massively increase the Tories if traditional 1st time buyer terraced houses not 100 yards away upto around £160k-£180k. These same houses were selling for less than £50,000 just 20 years ago.
Shaw, and other towns like it desperately needs AFFORDABLE housing.
Affordable means available for sale, with little or no deposit, to those earning at the minimum rate.
It should not mean having to enter a lottery with everyone else in Oldham and the surrounding areas, paying £1200+ per month for a tiny 2 bed property.
If we are going to continue to destroy the opportunities for employment and industry in former industrial/mill towns by building on every inch of brownfield land available, leaving nothing for a future industrial expansion, then the very very very least that should be done is to ensure that the people who have lived, grown up, supported, the town can at the very least afford to continue living there, and enable the younger generations to raise their families in their home town.
By Anon
In response to Anon, I absolutely agree that the long term established residents of Shaw and Oldham need to be catered for, both younger and older generations. But you have , in effect, agreed with my point about the need to bring new employment and wealth creators to Oldham. Traditional industry continues to die off or move elsewhere. New industry looks at Oldham, and forms the view that there is not much attractive about it, little in the way of modern industrial premises in accessible locations, little in the way of quality housing in nice accessible locations for their employees to live in. So Oldham gets crossed off the list of potential places to invest in, why come to Oldham when there is going to be plenty going on in neighbouring Rochdale and Bury – and even those will struggle to compete with the South side of Manchester. Oldham must expand, not just trickle along, and bring in more revenue, otherwise the burden on those who are barely able to contribute will continue to rise – a 4.99% increase in Council Tax, slashing over 200 council jobs, and huge cuts to things like adult social services have just been announced this week.
By A. R.
Shaw Distribution Park is next to a tram stop with regular services into the city. Why on earth are they approving a low density suburban scheme of detached and semis there?! Particularly after complaining about such developments on green belt sites as reasons to pull out of Places for Everyone! Should be a mix of medium density apartments and townhouses, suitable for a range of households, including singles / couples, small families, and downsizers!
By Anonymous
Anon has a point but the days of Shaw being the richest town on Earth( Yes it once had more millionaires per capita, than New York) are over, so seeing the mighty mills bulldozed is sad but Oldham’s future, lies as a satellite of Manchester. The unfortunate truth ,is that without Manchester, opportunities for Oldhamers are limited. I would rather see houses on the sites of mills, with people commuting to MediaCity, Manchester Airport, the booming city centre, the Oxford Road Corridor, then spending their money locally at the weekends, than look at a derelict mill.
By Elephant