Rochdale industrial plan binned in favour of flats
Proposals for 75 apartments off Royle Road have emerged, replacing an earlier permission for an employment development.
Applicant BMC Rochdale, whose sole director is listed as Melissa Bell, has submitted an application to the local council for a five-storey apartment building featuring 38 one-bed apartments and 37 with two bedrooms.
The scheme would be constructed on an engineered plateau on a 3.8-acre site north of Countryside’s recently completed Calico Grove development and was previously earmarked for industrial.
In 2021, Stechrioco secured consent for a 33,000 sq ft scheme on the plot.
Zerum is advising on planning and BTP Architects is leading on design. To learn more, search for reference number PL/2026/0421 on Rochdale Council’s planning portal.
Not ideal having all north facing and all south facing single aspect flats. Going to be some very hot flats in summer and very cold/dark ones in winter.
By Anonymous
Residential properties are popping up all over rochdale – recently the two partly used shopping malls have plans for apartments or flats but the town centre has died shops and public houses are also being turned into flats – we need shops for the increased population and industrial places to create jobs – let alone health care, education and transport needs to accommodate the increasing population – has rochdale council any idea of infrastructure at all – a large residential development in the town centre of affordable housing was developed a few years ago and the apartments are still mostly empty due to them not actually being affordable – creating jobs should be a priority right now when people are earning they can afford to pay the “affordable” rent – rochdale council are creating an over populated town that cannot accommodate the new council tax paying residents – and maybe that is the main focus of the council- more residential properties equals more council tax payers
By Mortheus
Why? Is there a financial reason for this?
Who is benefitting from this decision?
By Anonymous
A single building that can host X amount of people without promoting sprawl and destroying our greenfield, this is the way forward!
By Anonymous
Imprisoning people is not the way forward, people should have a decent standard of living, in a house, with a garden.
By Anonymous
@July 06, 2026 at 11:01 am
By Anonymous
That’s where townhouses come in – housing with a front door on the street and a private garden but with the gentle density to accommodate people in comfort without chewing up excess land.
By Anonymous
This is what happens when you let Reform in. Jobs gone….flats in. Bullcrap
By Anonymous
July 04, 2026 at 3:05 pm, By Mortheus, I couldn’t agree more with this comment. We continue to provide social housing, often of poor quality, while the town is being deprived of employment opportunities.
Rochdale was built on industry, but it is increasingly becoming another benefits-dependent town. When are we going to see a vision for creating jobs, attracting investment, and rebuilding a strong local economy?
By Steve5839