A huge new student housing block and progress on what is billed as England’s largest onshore wind farm are the key developments tabled this week.
In Salford, the plan for a block of 400 student homes with its own gym and lounge has been submitted to the council for approval. The scheme would demolish the existing Cumberland House building on Lissadel Street to build a part-ten storey student residence on the land.
Over in the far reaches of Rochdale, on its border with Rossendale, the developer behind the plan for a landmark 100 MW onshore wind farm is scoping opinion from the council.
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The town hall will advise on the environmental impacts of the development before full planning permission is sought.
Here is a breakdown of each borough’s submitted planning applications this week
Bolton
Kearsley golf driving range (Pic: FuZED Architecture and Design)
Plans to demolish golf driving range and build bungalows on green belt land thrown out
Plans to demolish a golf driving range and build seven homes on green belt land have been thrown out by a planning inspector.
The proposals would have seen the former Kearsley golf driving range and clubhouse, Moss Lane, pulled down and replaced with three-bedroom bungalows. The driving range closed in 2023 with the redevelopment plans originally rejected by Bolton Council in May 2024.
In their decision notice, the council said the proposals would ’cause significant harm to the openness of the green belt’.
Bury
The new tram access will be from Festival Gardens in Radcliffe
New Metrolink stop entrance set to be built at public park
A new entrance from a public park could be added to Radcliffe’s Metrolink stop.
Bury Council plans to build an access ramp and flights of steps, which would involve significant work at Festival Gardens. The new entrance would provide new pedestrian and cyclist access for those arriving at and leaving the east platform of Radcliffe Metrolink stop.
The work would include removing 28 trees and vegetation and filling in an embankment close to the current platform to create an access ramp with lighting poles and CCTV equipment.
Manchester
How the new Winners Chapel on Chain Road might look -Credit:Copyright Unknown
The enormous new church set for Blackley with its own shuttle buses
An enormous new church is set to be built in Blackley on a former convent, new planning documents show.
World Mission Agency, which currently holds services on Broughton Lane in Salford, has purchased the Chain Road site in north Manchester. It is now applying for permission to demolish the former Convent of the Good Shepherd and build a new place of worship.
The church says its new Winners Chapel will have space for a 1,500-strong congregation in an ‘ultra-modern’ facility.
Rochdale
An image linked to the planned Scout Moor II wind turbine extension -Credit:Cubicon
Plans for ‘England’s largest onshore wind farm’ on Scout Moor take step forward
Plans to build ‘England’s largest onshore wind farm’ on the edge of Greater Manchester have taken another step forward.
Scout Moor II – a landmark 100 MW onshore wind farm between Rochdale, Rawtenstall and Edenfield – could soon be built next to the existing Scout Moor wind farm.
Cubico Sustainable Investments, which is behind the first major onshore wind development in England in over a decade – is now looking for the opinions of Rochdale council bosses. The town hall will advise on the environmental impacts of the development before full planning permission is sought.
Greater Manchester town set to see its civic square transformed
A vision for a transformed Peine Square in Heywood has been revealed. Proposals would see the town’s civic centre turned into a striking public space for events – and a place for people to simply relax.
The plan includes the creation of new green spaces and seating areas to ‘encourage community interaction’, which can double up as a performance space. The council says residents and businesses have responded positively to the blueprints.
The proposals are part of a wider investment into Heywood, including the revamp of the civic centre, which is undergoing a major transformation – including a new bar, seating, lighting and sound.
Salford
A CGI of plans for a new student block on land at Cumberland House in Salford. Image from Salford council planning documents. Uploaded by local democracy reporter Declan Carey.
New student block planned in Salford with 400 homes and own gym
Plans for a new block with nearly 400 student homes in Salford with its own gym and lounge have been submitted for approval.
The scheme would demolish the existing Cumberland House building on Lissadel Street to build a part-ten storey student residence on the land. A total of 396 purpose-built studios are included in the plans, with shared communal facilities for residents, located within walking distance from Salford University’s main city centre campus.
Landscaping plans aim to create ‘immersive and quiet spaces’ in the development alongside ‘social and active’ zones.
Green belt land released to build ‘top end of market’ homes in Salford
Part of Salford’s green belt has been released to build ‘top end of the market’ homes.
The site, known as ‘East of Boothstown’, has lost its green belt status under the Greater Manchester Places for Everyone scheme, with an allocation of 300 homes on the land. Salford council was the first town hall in the region to adopt Places for Everyone – which aims to build 28,000 homes in the borough by 2039.
A planning application has been submitted this week for 26 homes on the patch of land east of Boothstown, based on the derelict Booths Bank Farm off Leigh Road.
Tameside
Tameside One council building -Credit:LDRS
Denton could get a new apartment block
Plans have been tabled for a new apartment block on an old industrial site in Denton.
A total of nine apartments would be created in the proposed two-storey building off Town Lane. According to the applicant, named as Mr Guy Froggatt, the new homes would sit just behind the P M Aquatic building.
Each apartment would be allocated a designated parking bay, ensuring convenience for residents.
Wigan
Wigan Town Hall entrance
Telecoms firm set to put up a 50ft mast in Leigh
A telecoms company has notified Wigan’s planning team of its intention to erect a 50ft mast on a footpath in Leigh.
1X Wireless Ltd, based in Blackburn, has submitted the prior notification to the council for the pole which will support fibre cables, radio antenna and a street cabinet on the pavement at the corner of Smith Street and College Street.
Under planning regulations introduced by the last government, telecoms companies do not need approval from planning authorities to put up masts of that height.