How our town will be transformed in 2019
A£1BN regeneration plan – dubbed the ‘Stockport revolution’ – is well underway and there are already signs of its impact on the town.
But what can we expect for 2019 and beyond?
As the town hall pushes ahead with its major investment project, it’s hard to ignore the swathes of development.
And there are more schemes on the horizon.
Here, we run down some of the key projects that are under starter’s orders and reflect on the progress of previously announced plans.
STOCKPORT INTERCHANGE
This is the latest element of the mammoth £1bn plan to revolutionise the area – a huge new transport interchange with a two-acre park on top.
The brand new hub has been a long-term ambition for the town hall.
In the shadow of Stockport’s famous viaduct, the new bus hub will become the epicentre of the town’s transport network.
It could, eventually, welcome trams.
Town hall chiefs are confident they will soon run into the area, insisting it’s a matter of ‘when not if.’
And a 196-home apartment block, which is expected to cost around £39m to build – will sit beside the interchange.
There will be a bridge to Stockport train station; a new bridge over the River Mersey to Heaton Lane; a new link road between the A6 and Travis Brow; upgraded frontage onto Mersey Square; and a new cycle hub, as the council looks to slash congestion through the centre of Stockport.
Stockport council and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) envisage the interchange to be complete by 2021, with the residential and new public space scheduled by the middle of the following year.
But it’s going to be pricey – around £120m – but council bosses say it will be well worth it.
PICCADILLY CAR PARK
Plans to build a 22-storey town centre apartment block were scaled back amid concerns it would create a ‘Benidorm’ skyline.
Developer Urbanize Homes had previously submitted plans for a 66-metre tower on the Piccadilly car park site once occupied by Greenhale House.
Designed to stand taller than both Pendlebury Towers and Hanover Towers, the original scheme would have seen the development of Stockport’s tallest building.
However, blueprints to provide a 14-storey block to house 164 flats were approved last month despite members of the council’s planning committee voicing concerns.
They fear the scheme is another ‘unrealistic’ application.
A former six-storey 1970s office block was demolished for structural reasons in the early 2000s and the site has been largely used as a car park.
Since 2007, a total of 10 redevelopment plans have been brought forward – and approved – for apartment blocks, a hotel and restaurant, but nothing has ever materialised.
However, developers are adamant construction work will start next year.
FORMER SORTING OFFICE
Plans to transform Stockport’s former sorting office into 117 apartments and office space were given the go-ahead in June.
A decision that couldn’t come quick enough for most members of the council’s planning committee who labelled the current state of the building an ‘eyesore.’
Developers Rowlinson and Housing Capital Trust will convert the outdated structure, which has lain empty since 2010, into modern rented apartments.
The development will also include a commercial area with food and drink facilities, offices and flexible workspaces on the ground floor.
Work on site, which is located at the junction of Exchange Street and Station Road – opposite the town’s library – is expected to begin on site next year.
BATTERSBY HAT FACTORY
Plans to convert the iconic Battersby Hat Works into 144 homes were approved by town hall bosses in April.
The development is located on the Offerton Industrial Estate – and plans include bulldozing and redeveloping several buildings.
The former hat works will be transformed into 45 homes, including 16 apartments and 28 family homes.
The site will also house 99 family properties.
However, the landmark water tower emblazoned with a ‘B’ for Battersby – built following a blaze at the factory in 1906 – will be saved.
DAVENPORT HOTEL
Blueprints for this development include bulldozing the former Stockport hotel to make way for 39 apartments.
Clowes Developments was granted permission to demolish the derelict Davenport Park Hotel located at Buxton Road in July.
The proposal is to build a five-storey block, located just a mile from the town centre, that includes 20 one and 19 two-bed flats.
However, planning documents say no ‘affordable’ apartments will be provided.
The authority’s planning committee said the plans are ‘not ideal’ but were probably the best it could hope for.
Agent Jim Seymour said redeveloping the plot would prevent further vandalism to the building.
STRAWBERRY FIELDS
Plans to build an eightstorey tower block to house 51 apartments were filed at Stockport Town Hall in July.
Applicant Robert Orr is seeking permission to develop the derelict site at 4, Cymbal Court, Strawberry Fields that used to house the former Nip Inn pub.
Blueprints show that the block would house 11 one and 40 two-bed flats, of which four would be classed as ‘affordable.’
A decision on the town centre scheme is expected next year.
FORMER COTTON MILL
Plans to transform this derelict mill into 175 apartments were welcomed by town hall bosses.
Springmount Mill on Northgate Road has lain empty for years – and has been subjected to a number of vandalism and arson attacks.
Sadly, just a week before planning was approved parts of the structure collapsed.
Stockport-based Carpenter Investments is now set to revamp the former Victorian cotton mill into high-quality apartments.
Proposals also included retaining the Brinksway and Highfield Street-facing parts of the building, but storm damage means that would be unsafe.
Those sections will now be demolished and rebuilt where possible.
STOCKPORT EXCHANGE
The town centre has already seen a massive change, with the £145m Stockport Exchange development ushering in a new era.
A Holiday Inn Express hotel, a new public area outside the town centre train station, a 1,000 space multi-storey car park – and a Sainsbury’s store have already been built.
Hundreds of offices have also been constructed as part of the scheme, with hundreds more on the way as part of the decade-long plan.
Plans for phase two of the Stockport Exchange development were revealed almost a year ago – and construction work is well underway.
The new six-storey office, which includes space for retail or commercial on the ground floor, will be built on the site adjacent to the town’s train station.
It is expected to create around 350 new jobs, on top of some 300 created by phase one, with completion expected in spring 2020.
It will be built next to the One Stockport Exchange, which was completed in December 2016 and was fully let within six months, with tenants including Music Magpie and Stagecoach.
WHAT we already know…
The new £47m Redrock leisure complex, complete with a cinema and car park, has just celebrated its first birthday.
And plans to invest in Merseyway shopping centre are in the pipeline, which include a ‘grab and go’ food court on Arden Walk.
Smaller ‘retail pods’ down the centre of Merseyway for semi-permanent businesses are also being considered. The council says it will reveal more details next year.
Meanwhile, Stockport’s Old Town with its historical charm feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of the high street with its row of modern shops.
But the council is spending £7m – and Heritage Lottery funding of almost £2m – to give it a facelift.
The area, which includes the Market Place, the Underbanks and Hillgate, has suffered in recent years with calls from traders for more investment.
And town hall chiefs have listened. They want it to become an area for smaller, independent shops but it has been hampered by the difficulty of tracking down owners of disused buildings.
However, work to transform the Grade II-listed Produce Hall into a food hall with seating for up to 150 people, inspired by Mackie Mayor and Altrincham Market, is well underway.
While new mayoral powers aimed at kick-starting development could also be used to create a 3,000-home ‘urban village’ on the edge of town.
The plan – the first time the powers would have been used in Greater Manchester – aims to see a wave of regeneration around King Street West, Chestergate, the viaduct and the railway station and could see the town hall compulsorily buy up land to get things moving.
Thousands of new homes would be earmarked for a string of sites covering 130 acres stretching west from the A6 and out towards the Pyramid.