The town buzzing about it’s redevelopment plans

The idea to bring thousands of new homes, highly skilled jobs and the tram service to Middleton has created a buzz in the town.

Over the summer, the Middleton ‘mayoral development corporation’ (MDC) was announced by town hall bosses. The MDC is a public body collaboration between Rochdale and Bury councils in conjunction with Andy Burnham and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

The plan would see the creation of a manufacturing hub within the Atom Valley Northern Gateway alongside new jobs, bring Metrolink to the town, 1,200,000 square metres of employment floorspace, 3,000 new homes and better public areas, roads and pathways.

Council bosses hailed the revamp scheme as a once in a generation opportunity for the town. For locals, they say ‘it’s about time’.

Geoff Douglas moved to Middleton from Wales in the 1960s. He says there has always been talk of regenerating the town, but it remained just talk for many years.

Sat in Middleton Gardens with a coffee, the 80-year-old said: “It’s about time, it’s a brilliant idea if it’s true. I do have a lot of skepticism though because they’ve been talking about it for a while.

“It’s been all talk and no action so far. The town centre is clearly interesting for the pigeons as there are so many of them, people keep feeding them.

“People getting off the tram don’t want to be covered in bird poo. So we need to spruce up the town centre so people have something to see when they get off the tram.

“It can’t just be one thing, it needs to be a whole package. We are seeing stuff open up in the town, so progress is coming but slowly. Middleton has a lot to offer with the swimming baths and the shows at Middleton Arena, so this would be a nice addition.

“There is lots of stuff going on, so if we get more investment, more will come. The sooner this happens the better.”

Just a few benches over, Brian Quinn chips in. He has lived in Middleton for most of his life, but feels the town gets forgotten about despite it being in a great location, halfway between Rochdale and Manchester.

The 72-year-old was excited by the idea of Metrolink coming to town, but his eyes lit up at the employment opportunities the MDC would offer.

“I feel we get forgotten about here,” Brian explained. “It’s dated at the moment with the shopping centre – there are no big names in there so a big investment could bring that.

“If I was still working I wouldn’t be happy in this area. It’s been about seven years since I retired. It was atrocious the employment options.

“So getting proper full time jobs here would be great.”

He added that Middleton was built on engineering opportunities when he was younger, so highly skilled jobs in manufacturing got the big thumbs up from Brian.

A number of people roaming through the town centre, dodging the intermittent storms between shopping, had a shared enthusiasm over the plans fronted by Alkrington-born comedian Steeve Coogan.

Mr Coogan – whose grandparents lived on the Langley estate – explained that his years of gigging across the UK taught him that Middleton people ‘have got a sense of themselves’.

The TV icon believes the key to the rejuvenation will be consultation with those residents.

Crucial people to think about when shaping regeneration schemes are the younger generation, who would see the long-term impact of any plans.

A trio of lads had met up on their lunch breaks just outside the shopping centre. Connor Medwell, Lateef Adisa and Dakota O’Brien felt the best aspect of the plans was the tram – because it would bring better transport connectivity, reduce road congestion and just make life easier in general.

Camera-shy Lateef says the tram would’ve been useful for him when commuting from Newton Heath to Heywood for work. The 20-year-old had to get a tram and a bus to travel just 10 miles – a 30 minute car journey that took him well over an hour on public transport.

Lateef added: “I would consider using it when it goes to Heywood even though I drive now. Getting the tram everywhere would be easier than driving, considering the traffic.”

20-year-old Dakota revelled in the idea of the tram. He said: “The tram is a much better option to avoid the traffic. Loads of people park at places like the Trafford centre and get the tram into town now.

“Bringing the tram here would be great for Middleton.”

For Connor, he said the plans may be loved by some, but loathed by others due to the boost it would give the town. The only drawback he saw with the redevelopment plans was that it could price people out of the area that have lived here all their lives.

“It’s like the city is expanding outwards,” the 23-year-old envisioned. “I feel it could bring opportunity for us.

“Some might like it but others won’t because house prices could go up, so homeowners will like that. But people renting might not like it because it may raise rent prices.

“It will be better for city centre workers as they won’t have to travel by car as much and get stuck in traffic.”

A number of locals felt the new plans would need to be combined with a sprucing up of the town centre, so it would become more of a destination to pull out-of-towners into Middleton. With an array of eateries, pubs and entertainment already on offer, residents felt the town was gaining momentum that could only increase with this investment plan.

A regeneration of the high streets was also included in the 2022 vision to help address ‘building vacancy and a scruffy appearance in areas’. Due to development constraints, market failures and viability issues the council has struggled to unlock the land to deliver on this regeneration.

It is hoped the new MDC could use the influence of public bodies like the GMCA to drive their ambitions for the town forward.

Speaking in summer after announcing the MDC, Rochdale’s council leader Neil Emmott said: “As a councillor in Middleton for many years, and someone who, like Steve Coogan, attended Cardinal Langley School, I’m incredibly passionate about the area and know that with the right support in place, we can achieve great things for the benefit of its residents.

“We’ve already done a lot to regenerate Middleton in recent years, but we need to take it much further and an MDC gives us that extra power to do even more, even faster.

“We’re still early on in this process, and we will be speaking to residents and businesses across Middleton in the coming months to find out what they want from an MDC and how they want it to work.”