Bedsit plan for former pub

A landmark pub which shut three years ago could be converted into more than a dozen bedsits.

The now-vacant Waggon and Horses is a well-known sight in Rochdale, given its prominent position near one of the town’s busiest junctions.

Sitting just off the intersection of Roch Valley Way and Manchester Road, the once-popular pub is currently boarded up to prevent vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

But now the red brick building – which dates to the early 20th century – could be divided up into bedsits and converted into a house of multiple occupation (HMO).

Property firm SJA Rochdale Ltd has lodged an application with the council, proposing a scheme which would include 17 bedrooms with shared kitchen, dining and living room facilities.

All but one of the bedsits would have an en-suite bathroom and there would also be a communal laundry room.

A planning statement accompanying the application says there has been ‘little bona fide interest in reopening the building as a pub’ and the scheme would bring a host of benefits to the Sudden area.

It says: “The development will bring the building back into use, enabling it to make a positive contribution to the area and help to meet housing demand in Rochdale.

“The development will provide economic, social and environmental benefits and constitutes sustainable development.”

It adds that an SJA Rochdale director has a ‘track record of providing high quality accommodation’, having ‘previously worked to turn around poor quality accommodation to provide highly respectable and stable accommodation to meet the needs of people in the borough’.

The proposed scheme is also described as being ‘of a high standard of design in terms of living accommodation’ which would provide future residents with ‘a good level of amenity’.

There will be four car parking bays and eight cycle spaces for the 17 tenants' use, although the applicant claims it will not be necessary for future residents to own a car, due to the site’s ‘excellent public transport links’.

The firm also contends that ‘the nature of the accommodation means that it will be less likely that future residents will own a car’.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter