Huge new logistics site gets the go-ahead despite council bid to bin plan

CGI of logistics site planned for old Department for Work and Pensions’ distribution centre in Heywood

The former Department for Work and Pensions storage building in Heywood will be bulldozed and replaced with a new 465,000 sq ft logistics site.

Rochdale Council had originally rejected Trammell Crow Co Logistics’ proposal at a planning committee meeting in December 2023.

The committee had deemed the plan, off Manchester Road, to be too large and classed it as ‘overdevelopment’.  

This decision has now been reversed following an appeal. The Planning Inspectorate heard from both parties at an inquiry, as well as Russell Homes, the developer behind the £400m masterplan aiming to bring new jobs, homes and improved highways to Heywood. At the hearing, the developer claimed the logistics site would devalue the 1,000 homes proposed nearby.

But the inspector, Benjamin Webb, rejected this argument. His report read: “Insofar as Russell Homes’ concerns appear to reflect objections raised in relation to sales values and viability at application stage, these were not pursued at the Inquiry. 

“I have otherwise been provided with no convincing reason to believe that the overall delivery of South Heywood Masterplan, or the approved housing site’s role within it, would be compromised by the appeal scheme.”

Mr Webb also disagreed with the council’s concerns that this site is poorly designed and would class as ‘overdevelopment’. His report found that the size, scale and form of the proposed units would be acceptable, and would not give rise to the perception of overdevelopment.

The inspector added: “Whilst I am conscious of the fact that securing beauty within the built environment is national policy, this is not an attribute typically associated with modern warehouses. 

“For that matter, it is also not an attribute of any of the older warehouses on site. Approaching the matter on that basis, the incorporation of bands of colour across the top half of each elevation of the proposed units would provide a far more interesting and distinctive appearance than if each was left blank. 

“From a distance, on a clear day, these bands of colour might even help to diminish visual perception of built form.”

The inspector finished by saying he was content that Trammell Crow Co has taken reasonable steps to secure ‘beauty’ in line with national policy.

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter