Rochdale adopts vision for Littleborough Station area
A call for new homes, improved public realm, and an increase in daytime and night-time economy offerings are fundamental aspects of a masterplan for the town drawn up by Broadway Malyan.
Rochdale Council voted to adopt the strategic vision for the Littleborough Station area during the council meeting on Wednesday.
The council hopes the supplementary planning document will lead to projects that increase footfall in the town and bring in new residents and businesses, while still maintaining the town’s charm.
Core principles of the Littleborough Station Masterplan and SPD include improving connectivity from the rail station to the village centre. Goals for more trees, cycle infrastructure, and parking are also outlined.
Hare Hill Road would have its parking provision formalised under the framework. Credit: via council documents
Other ambitions include adding homes on brownfield sites, reinstating street frontages to Peel Street and Victoria Street, and refurbishing the existing railway arches for new uses as workspaces, shops, or restaurants.
The SPD includes proposals for a potential redevelopment of the Co-op in Littleborough as well, describing the site’s potential to have a mixture of townhouses, mews, and apartments.
As an SPD, the document is meant to guide future development in the area by providing design and accessibility principles. The SPD will be used by the council’s planning officers when evaluating future planning applications for the area.
A brownfield site by Canal Street could be turned into homes under the framework’s vision. Credit: via council documents
Adoption of the SPD follows two series of consultations, the first in 2021 and the second in 2022. The second consultation exercise accrued more than 350 responses from community members. That feedback was incorporated into the SPD that went before Rochdale Council.
The Littleborough Station Masterplan and SPD is part of the council’s wider Rail Corridor Regeneration Strategy, which seeks to bring vacant land and buildings around the borough’s rail stations back into use. WSP and Broadway Malyan worked alongside the council on crafting that strategic framework.
Really bad idea! There isn’t the infrastructure to accommodate more housing.
By Anonymous
Looks an interesting scheme but it first needs better access into and out of the village. The current roads cannot handle the traffic as it is now. It is already over congested with the massive number of new developments as it is. I worked on Halifax Road from 1980 to 2004 and the road couldn’t handle the volume of traffic then. That was before the Borough planning made it worse by narrowing and altering the road layout.
By Anonymous
Great idea if the homes are affordable and the cycling infrastructure works for cyclists and is safe.
By Peter O’Donnell
This is not viable or sustainable it’s a terrible plan that will completely gridlock our village
By Kate Ashby
We don’t need nor want your help. Our roads get congested enough without your anti-car measures. This is not how we want our tax spent. You are elected to power to serve your constituence not to roll out your own political agenda. There had better be a public consultation before you spend any more money on it.
By Andrew Greenwood
At the risk of being tedious, since WW2 as UK prosperity has increased so has car ownership and miles driven. If we don’t think about the problem differently, then in the next 20 years the UK economy and miles driven will grow in the UK. Most of us T know that big road widening schemes only given a temporary respite, so the answer has got to be finding ways to grow without growing car usage. Littleborough sits right on top of the Leeds/Bradford – Manchester rail corridor so should be one of the places to take more development alongside investment in the fabric of the town.
By Rich X