An old mill in Heywood will be demolished to make way for Heywood’s regeneration.
Regent Mill is an industrial complex rather than the typical historic cotton mill you see dominating the skylines of Rochdalian towns. But the bulldozing of this deteriorating building on St James Street could unlock a wider vision for Heywood.
Rochdale council, who are carrying out the demolition work, say they hope to bring forward plans to build around 200 new homes in this area of the town.
These homes are expected to be more affordable homes. No timeline for when this could happen has been set out.
Once the former tile merchant has been levelled, it would facilitate housing schemes to come forward, according to the local authority. This would link into Heywood’s ongoing regeneration.
A fresh new Heywood Civic has already been completed. This has been accompanied by the makeover to Peine Square on the Civic’s doorstep.
Some £20m of the government’s Pride in Place funding is currently being spent, with grant applications for local businesses expected to be open soon. This would bring further cash directly to local organisations to better the area.
Coun Danny Meredith, cabinet member for regeneration and housing at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The demolition of Regent Mill is part of the wider regeneration of this part of Heywood, as part of our masterplan. This will see us work with partners to transform brownfield sites around the town centre into new, high-quality much needed social homes for local people.
“Over time, we hope to bring forward more than 200 homes on and around the Regent Mill area. So where we now have empty sites, which are not visually appealing, we will have fantastic new homes to help address our housing shortage and give the whole area a lift.
“We have already seen considerable regeneration within Heywood town centre and this project will continue this redevelopment and further support local families.”
There are some concerns about the demolition work raised by highways teams. Highways explained that recent demolitions of properties in this area ‘have caused damage to highways surfaces causing significant risk to pedestrians’.
Planning papers described how the council intends to fence off the demolition site, including debris netting and site signage to protect pedestrians and the roads.
Oulder Hill records highest proportion of pupils achieving grades 9 to 5 in English and Maths
£20m funding for underinvested areas of Rochdale set to be approved
How major 1,550-home scheme would fit into Greater Manchester
Cardinal Langley students celebrate rise in GCSE and BTEC results
St Anne’s Academy in Middleton matches its best GCSE results
Heywood's Pride in Place scheme without chair after Brian Davies steps down
Strikes back on at four Greater Manchester hospitals after payment offer withdrawals, says UNISON
New play area coming to Lower Place
Bury Adult Learning Service welcomes residents to annual open day
Greater Manchester to receive £17m in funding to help with the homelessness crisis
Local golf clubs reach last eight of Manchester and District Alliance competitions
New homes approved for Kirkholt
Comments
Add a comment