A new vision will effectively create a new town on the border of Rochdale and Bury, after planning bosses signed off 1,550 houses, shops, transport links and a school.
The massive development near the M60 has been earmarked for a large chunk of land between Simister and Bowlee. Town hall bosses from both Rochdale and Bury are pushing through a draft development framework for the 98 hectare site to the east and west of Heywood Old Road (A6045).
This would define the strategy for how the development would fit into the current road and transport network as well as connect to other neighbourhoods locally.
New roads, transport stations and connections to walking and pedestrian routes are all mooted, the latest meeting of Rochdale council’s cabinet was told. A school and a ‘local centre’ with shops, health services, community space, growing gardens are also touted as part of this huge project.
The plans for high-quality new homes form part of the GM-wide Places for Everyone (PfE) plan, which would see thousands of new homes built across Greater Manchester over the next two decades. The idea behind the Simister Bowlee is to help to meet a critical local housing need and address the affordability crisis for housing key workers and first-time buyers.
The agricultural land is already situated next to big employment sites, with more expected over the next two decades as part of the wider Atom Valley scheme. Atom Valley is one of six growth locations in Greater Manchester and includes significant parts of Bury, Oldham and Rochdale.
It is a vast area of 17m sq ft employment space, with the potential to offer 20,000 ‘highly skilled’ roles in the technology and manufacturing sectors as well as thousands of new homes.
This Simister and Bowlee scheme falls under the project named the Northern Gateway. New transport links are seen as key to connecting the new homes to what is expected to become the largest and most accessible employment and innovation hubs in the region, driving substantial investment into Greater Manchester.
Coun Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale council, said: “This new framework represents another important step forward for this area as part of the wider Atom Valley project, which will create thousands of highly skilled jobs and new homes in Rochdale and Bury.”
Rochdale council’s cabinet approved the plans at their latest meeting in Number One Riverside, council HQ, on February 5. The same draft plan will go before Bury council’s cabinet on February 11.
If it is approved by town hall chiefs in Bury next week, the scheme will go out to public consultation later this month so locals can feedback their views on the future vision for the area.
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