Plans to develop derelict site of former asbestos factory expected by end of 2024

Plans to develop a derelict site that was once home to the world’s largest asbestos firm are expected to be lodged before the end of 2024.

It was announced last month that ‘specialist remediation company’ ESG Trading Limited, had bought the former Turner Brothers Asbestos factory, in Rochdale.
 

Read more: New owners for former Turner Brothers Asbestos sitePublished: 09 November 2021

 

Read more: Response to purchase of former Turner Brothers Asbestos sitePublished: 12 November 2021

The Castleford-based outfit says it wants to clean-up the 75-acre site which borders the Healey Dell Nature Reserve.

The plot has a long history of industrial use, including the manufacture of asbestos, dating back to the 19th century.

But its more recent past is mired in controversy.

A scheme that would have seen 650 homes built on the land were thrown out by Rochdale Council in 2011, following a six year battle by campaigners who feared for people’s health.

The news that ESG intended to clean-up the site for development was met with caution and a large dose of scepticism when details emerged in mid-November.

Now the firm has reached out to locals in an attempt to reassure people over its intentions for the land.

Owner Martin Greenwood told a Spotland and Falinge area forum meeting of his plans to have the site ‘fully remediated’ and signed off as clean by July 2024.

Addressing residents at Number One Riverside, he said: “The only thing we are going to do is remediate it and make a nice green park, with a nice public space area on the left-hand side.”

Mr Greenwood said an ‘outline’ planning application for a ‘mixed-use’ scheme would be submitted before the end of 2024. He added that it was likely the land would then be sold on to a developer to come up with the final, detailed proposals.

The remediation boss and his team faced residents’ questions on whether the site was earmarked for ‘houses, factories, or a theme park’.

And they were also confronted with deep scepticism over the firm’s insistence that the end-use was undecided, despite the clean-up coming with a £20m price tag.

Mr Greenwood made a plea for ‘patience’ from residents but pledged to be 100% ‘fully transparent’ and honest with people in the area.

“I actually own the project – I’m here, I’m not hiding behind an offshore company like the previous owners,” he said.

He told the meeting: “There’s going to be quite a bit of disruption in the area which we will keep to a minimum.

“We are going to spend millions and millions and millions getting it to a clean developable platform.

“We are not developers, we are not builders, it’s not what we do – it’s not what we want to do.

“We want to remediate that site, make sure it squeaky clean – then that will be sold on for mixed-use.”

An ‘outline’ planning application is likely to give an estimate of how many houses the site can accommodate, as well as an indication of the amount of ‘commercial floorspace’ it could offer for things like warehouses, factories, or retail.

Once this is granted, it establishes the principle of development – but a detailed ‘reserved matters’ application would have to be passed before any work could begin.

Residents’ frustration over previous ‘farcical’ attempts to redevelop the site were also brought up at the meeting.

Mr Greenwood made a plea for locals to give his ‘very professional’ team a chance.

“All I’m asking the general public is to be patient,” he said.

“Please don’t tar us today with the same brush as the previous people. It’s a new thing for us to come in and start from scratch.”

He admitted he had expected to walk out of the meeting ‘with six-inch nails in my back because of what’s happened in the past’.

“We have to build your trust, and you guys have to give us a bit of time to do what we say we’ll do,” he continued.

“The difference between us and the previous guy, is we own our equipment.

“We’ve got a fantastic team of people. This is what we do. We’re not reliant on contractors coming in and trying to put a 15% margin on what we’re wanting to do.”

Resident Mick Coats, of Rooley Moor Road, said people would need clarity over the proposed end-use for the site.

He said: “We need clarity on this because we live there. We need to know things like, If there’s going to be more housing, there’s going to be more traffic on Rooley Moor Road [and] there might be traffic going out down Shawclough [Road].

“It does have a considerable impact. Even the survey and the remediation will have a considerable impact.

“But if the final outcome is loads of houses – the original planning application was for 650 houses and a kids’ nursery, on what is a completely contaminated site – it is absolutely rife.

“And anybody who has lived here for a while will tell you stories of people dying [and] the amount of asbestos being dumped down the mine shafts.”

Spotland and Falinge Area Forum met at Number One Riverside on Thursday (9 December).
 

Read more: There are over 300 articles dating back to 2005 relating to the former asbestos factory site and the Save Spodden Valley campaign in the Rochdale Online news archives

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter