Partners cue up 6.5m sq ft at GM’s Northern Gateway
Russell LDP and Harworth Group have launched a consultation ahead of submitting plans for industrial-led development between Rochdale and Bury, in the Atom Valley mayoral development zone.
The site, allocated in the Greater Manchester Places for Everyone joint development plan, is located at a strategically important intersection around the M60, M62 and M66 motorways, straddling the Bury and Rochdale border.
The Northern Gateway Development Vehicle (NGDV), a 50/50 partnership between Russell LDP and Harworth Group, is advancing a planning application covering around half the overall proposed floorspace across the Northern Gateway employment site.
NGDV said the first phase could see around 9,990 high-quality jobs created (with the wider employment site set to deliver around 20,000 jobs), a £570m GVA boost to Greater Manchester’s economy each year and annual business rates of around £20m.
The plans include:
- Around 6.5m sq ft of employment space in advanced manufacturing, industrial and logistics.
- Around 50,000 sq ft of supporting uses, possibly including retail, cafés/restaurants, a hotel, office space, conference and training facilities and community uses.
- Landscaping and green open space.
- Active travel routes.
An NGDV spokesperson said: “Northern Gateway will be one of the largest, most significant employment destinations in the UK. By creating a hub for innovation it’s set to attract national and international businesses and supercharge the Greater Manchester economy.
“The site will deliver opportunities for people living in Bury, Rochdale and beyond with thousands of high-quality jobs and a long-term legacy of skills. Alongside advanced manufacturing jobs, from skilled trades to R&D, AI and robotics, the site could offer high-quality logistics jobs like project managers, IT operatives, sales teams and engineers.”
Turley is the planning advisor on the project, also providing EIA, design, economics, sustainability and heritage services.
Outlined in red, the development site is close to the South Heywood development area. Credit: via Font Comms
The consultation runs until 17 February 2025 and will include drop-in events at the Old Police Station business centre in Heywood (on Wednesday 25 January) and at Pike Fold Golf Club, on Tuesday 4 February.
An online Q&A will be held between 6pm and 7pm on Monday 3 February. The online consultation website is also now live and can be found here.
NGDV plans to submit an outline planning application to both Rochdale and Bury Councils in the spring and expects a decision later in the year.
Under the PfE outline, the Northern Gateway allocation is made up of two development sites. The employment-led destination is referenced as JP Allocation 1.1: Heywood/Pilsworth, with a residential site referenced as JP Allocation 1.2: Simister and Bowlee.
Bury and Rochdale’s councils recently consulted on a supplementary planning document for the employment-led allocation (JPA 1.1) to provide more detailed policy on what should be developed.
NGDV is also in the early stages of considering proposals for the 1.2 residential allocation, which will follow at a later date, and will also be subject of an SPD and separate consultation.
The Northern Gateway site lies close to the South Heywood development one, where Russell Homes has outline consent for a 318-acre masterplan that includes 1,000 homes.
In a separate Atom Valley project, plans were approved in October for a 42,700 sq ft sustainable materials innovation hub, put forward by Rochdale Council at the Kingsway business park.
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