Unveiled – the council vision of town centre’s changing face
MORE than 7,000 new homes could be built along the Calder Valley rail corridor under an ambitious new regeneration project.
The masterplan, which also includes 250,000 sq m of new employment space, proposes major redevelopment around Rochdale’s five railway stations.
Developed by the council and the newly formed Greater Manchester Station Alliance, it involves the creation of new neighbourhoods on brownfield sites close to amenities and transport links.
Although based along the rail line, it is not a transport strategy but a residential one which aims to better integrate Rochdale with the wider city region.
Bosses say the scheme would create a ‘significant’ number of jobs that could attract more than 16,000 new residents to the area. Rochdale’s regeneration chief Coun
John Blundell says the idea is to create a ‘spine of activity’ along the railway that will encourage investment and ‘drag the renewed prosperity of the city centre’ into the borough.
Coun Blundell said: “The land around our railway stations has huge potential for regeneration because you’re putting people close to the transport connections and local facilities that you need to create sustainable neighbourhoods.
“Rochdale’s incredible connectivity, with five railway stations, and a sixth on the cards, puts us in unrivalled position to repurpose brownfield sites along the Calder Valley corridor to unlock thousands of new homes which are a stone’s throw from Manchester city centre, for a fraction of the price.”
The borough’s five stations are at Rochdale, Castleton, Smithy Bridge, Littleborough and Mills Hill - while a sixth is mooted for Slattocks, in Middleton.
And with some 2.7m journeys made from them last year, bosses see them as key to the borough’s continued economic transformation.
Major proposals currently being worked up include:
●●1,500 new homes around Rochdale station, catering for 3,500 people
●●4,000 square metres of new retail and commercial space around Rochdale station ●●2,250 square metres of new office/managed workspace around Rochdale station ●●A NEW public square at Rochdale station ●●1,500 new homes around Castleton station ●●THE extension of the Metrolink to Bury and Heywood via Castleton ●●A NEW £11m cycle corridor connecting Castleton to Rochdale
The plans will also include development around the potential sixth station at Slattocks, proposed as part of TfGM’s 2040 transport strategy.
Rochdale is the first borough to benefit from collaboration with the Greater Manchester Station Alliance - a partnership of Network Rail,
Northern Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester, regeneration specialists LCR and the combined authority.
More detailed planning work and feasibility studies will take place over the coming months, with construction of the first new homes identified in the strategy set to begin as early as next year.
Rochdale’s rail corridor strategy can be viewed at investinrochdale.co.uk