Masterplan vision of the future for the pretty Greater Manchester town 'dripping with heritage'
There is no denying Littleborough is home to some of the most fascinating history and heritage in the region. Take Town House - the 18th century abode of visionary Rochdale MP Gordon Harvey - or Harehill Park, a Victorian idyll where visitors will find the grave of a pet monkey that belonged to the first owners of the house there.
So, it is perhaps no surprise council bosses have developed a station area ‘masterplan’ focused on regenerating the area around this key 'gateway'. The final version of the plan - redrawn following two bouts of consultation - will go before the full council for adoption later this month. It includes a new station square and bus interchange as well as improvements to Hare Hill Street, Church Street and Victoria Street.
"How do we retain these shops and get a new urban environment which is more commensurate with the build environment of Littleborough?” “I don’t want to be CPO’d, [compulsorily purchased by the council] we don’t want to leave the village,” he said. “The only way forward is for people to be reasonable with each other and discuss matters and try to find a little bit of common ground. But I refuse to be pushed out without any say in the matter.”
However, Coun Blundell argues the church would provide a bigger space than anything else on offer in the village, so is ‘not necessarily going to compete like some people have said’. “People should not be using these roads as they do. This should be a place for people, not for cars, it should be open as a through route, but it should be an optional last resort, it should not be the preferred option.”
A new deck - or decks - would also be built above the existing parking area to increase capacity. “People repeatedly say they want brownfield development, we are trying to find those brownfield sites and really make them work,” Coun Blundell says. Canalside This part of the masterplan is said to have been ‘designed around pedestrians and cyclists'. Plans include refurbishing the railway arches to provide premises for business and community uses, such as new restaurants, shops and offices.
“It’s starting to happen, it is gentrified, you can just tell by who moves into it and the houses with a skip in front of it," said Coun Blundell. “It’s just going to be incumbent on us to build the type of housing they are going to be able to afford. But you can’t build a wall around Littleborough and keep people out.”
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