Huge new community park and 162-home development to revitalise an abandoned industrial site

The old Hartshead Power Station and Millbrook Sidings is set to be replaced by a huge new community park and a 162-home development.

Casey Group Limited will need to convince the planning panel meeting at Guardsman Tony Downes House in Droylsden on September the 11th if they want to see their vision come to fruition.

The site sits within the greenbelt and currently has remnants of the former industrial uses including exposed culverts and drains, disused buildings and structures, piles of rubble and concrete slabs and isolated contamination.

Hartshead Power Station and Millbrook Sidings

Since the closure of the power station in the 1980’s the site has lain derelict and is now covered with self-seeded vegetation, with scrub and trees growing through the rubble and remaining dormant structures and voids.

The masterplan has outlined four zones of development – each with their own character and purpose.

Zone 1 is the area focused on the ponds and surroundings at the Printworks which would be set aside as an ecology area.

Zone 2 is where the proposed Community Hub was planned which has now been redesigned to become an ‘ecology enhancement area’ on the former Power Station site to the north of Spring Bank Lane.

Zone 3 is the linear woodland along the route of the former railway line and Zone 4 is the former railway sidings off Crowswood Drive where the 162 homes are proposed.

The proposed new housing estate would be split between 31 two-bed houses, 75 three bed and 55 four or more-bedroom homes.

These would include a range of affordable and open market properties accessed off Crowswood Drive, according to the planning documents.

When the applicants originally tabled the plans in 2021, they wanted to create a new park across 62 acres of land in Millbrook, named the ‘Tame Valley Park’ which would serve the 35,000 residents of Stalybridge and Mossley.

Hundreds of letters of objection

In the last three years hundreds of objection letters have been submitted to Tameside Council – which has led to changes in the application.

Due to concerns over loss of green space, the plan for a community hub has been scrapped and replaced with an ecological area with a focus on nature conservation and biodiversity net gain.

Where the community hub, visitor car park and play area were once destined to go will now see new water bodies, a woodland and a flower meadow.

The proposed play area that was supposed to be incorporated into the community hub has been moved and would now connect to the existing and planned new homes.

A pond will also be included next to the new play area and homes. Other minor design changes to the landscaping and driveways have also been included in the changes tabled.

Original plans such as the retention and improvement of over 16ha of woodland and vegetation have been retained by the developers in order to provide ‘habitat creation and key green and blue infrastructure’. Creation of new cycle and pedestrian routes where the dismantled railway track used to be would form part of the Bee Network cycle route.

Still awaiting planning approval

Before any of Casey Group Limited’s vision can be made a reality, they need planning permission from the planning panel next Wednesday. The applicant will need to provide a response to the 555 objectors who have cited loss of green belt space, lack of affordable homes, impact on wildlife, as well as oversubscribed GPs and dentists in the area – to name just a few.

Both applicants and objectors will get the chance to have their say at the meeting next week where planning officers have recommended approving the proposals.