213 posh flats to be built at neglected mill
MULTI-MILLION pound plans to convert a dilapidated mill into more than 200 swanky flats have been given the go-ahead.
The £20m development transform Meadow Mill Stockport.
It will also include 30,000 sq ft of leisure and retail space and a restaurant.
The neglected building, next to the Tesco superstore in the town centre, will be part of a ‘gateway’ development in the town centre, which is undergoing a £1bn regeneration.
Developer William George Homes said commercial space was needed to ensure the project was financially viable.
The mill is highly visible from will in the M60 as it passes through Stockport.
The planning approval comes as town hall bosses continue their desperate search for other brownfield sites to build on.
They are attempting to tackle the borough’s housing shortage while protecting the green belt from development.
Peter Rowlinson, a mill restoration expert, said on behalf of William George Homes: “This is one of the most imposing buildings in Stockport and one of the most important. It is one of the finest mills in the north west of England.
“The proposal will save the building and give it a long term future in a key position at one of Stockport’s major gateways.”
Stockport council’s central area committee heard the development will create 50 to 60 jobs. Work is set to start in late spring or early summer. The 213 apartments will have one to three bedrooms. The first residents are expected to move in by summer 2018.
Cycle and pedestrian facilities will be upgraded on Tiviot Way as part of the development.
Only 11 of the apartments will be considered ‘affordable’ housing – just 5 per cent.
The plans were not without controversy. Businesses operating at the mill claimed they were being forced out and said they were not kept up to date with proposals.
But William George Homes has refuted the claims.
Committee members heard a number of the businesses have been relocated elsewhere in Stockport.
Coun Philip Harding said: “I always thought this building was in an ideal place for a residential conversion.”