Rochdale cracks on with Central Retail Park transformation
Work has begun at last on building 81 homes on the 4.7-acre plot, nearly seven years after the council purchased the site for £13.2m.
The project on the former Central Retail Park has had its share of twists and turns, with Capital&Centric initially lined up to deliver 200 homes on the site before exiting the development in 2022.
Rochdale Development Agency, the council-controlled regeneration and investment company, took over the project. Working alongside main contractor Willmott Dixon, RDA will deliver 81 net zero homes with between two and four bedrooms by 2028.
The properties will be a mixture of tenures, including several designated for social and affordable rent.
To be known as Station Gardens due to its proximity to Rochdale railway station, the neighbourhood was made possible by a £15m award from the government’s Community Regeneration Partnerships Fund.
“It’s great to finally break ground on this site, as we’ve been working hard to move this project forward, following an unsuccessful funding bid to the previous government,” said Cllr Danny Meredith, Rochdale Council’s cabinet member for housing and regeneration.
“We kept at it and were delighted to recently receive the money from the community regeneration partnership, which has enabled us to get going.”
Meredith added: “These new homes will be fantastic addition to this area, transforming a site which has been empty for years into a thriving new neighbourhood which will be built to the highest environmental standards.”
Willmott Dixon pledged to do its part in ensuring Station Gardens provides not only homes but jobs.
“We share Rochdale Borough Council and RDA’s passion for ensuring Station Gardens leaves a lasting legacy in this community,” said Michael Poole-Sutherland, director for the North West at Willmott Dixon.
Poole-Sutherland continued: “As part of this, we will create employment opportunities for local people who have been long-term unemployed and will be engaging with both T-Level and apprentice students at Hopwood Hall College, Rochdale Sixth Form and Hollingworth High School, offering 180 weeks of training throughout the project.”
Planning permission for Station Gardens was secured in 2022 before undergoing a redesign last year.
Leach Rhodes Walker was the architect, with the planning project team including planner Plan Red, highways consultant Flinders Chase, engineer Booth King, landscape architect Oobe, principle designer KOK, M&E specialist Tace, acoustics and air quality consultant SRL, and fire consultant OFR. Walker Sime is the project’s quantity surveyor, project manager, and employer’s agent.
The project also includes plans for 142 flats to be built, with the ground floor of the future apartment block to house commercial units.
You can see the original planning permission by searching using reference 22/01119/FUL on Rochdale Council’s planning portal. The redesign can be found by using reference 24/00745/ANM.
Station Gardens is part of Rochdale’s wider push to regenerate the areas around its railway stations. In Rochdale town centre, this means introducing a public square. Close to Station Gardens, on the corner of Maclure Road and Station Road, will sit 33 apartments. Work on these flats is expected to start early next year.
Related Articles
Analysis
VIDEO | How do you deliver a scheme under Greater Manchester’s new sustainability policy?
GM has introduced a suite of documents to help ensure developers meet Places for Everyone’s net zero carbon goals with their projects. What does it look like putting the guidance into practice?
The council paid far too much for this site – it’s worth £5m in the current market (absolute tops).
By Heritage Action
‘The Economics of the Madhouse’
By UnaPlanner
With Rochdale’s access to both countryside and city (with fast train times), I am shocked at the suburban layout. Surely Rochdale should have reached for the skies here with a few towers!!
By Shocked
Does this council EVER think about the amount of traffic they are putting ON EVERY single already over congested road in Rochdale. ??????
By H J
The council has a solid plan for the town centre and have delivered alot already. However, in this case they were badly backstabbed by the national tory government which had a mission to screw Rochdale.
By Anonymous