The plans for a new link road, shopping centre and possibly hundreds of homes in Denton have moved a step closer.
Tameside Council have been pushing to redevelop the former Oldham Batteries site in Denton for more than a decade but the project depended on a new link road to ease traffic.
The factory closed in 2002 and has been derelict since. Tameside council stepped in with a compulsory purchase order in 2011 on two small pieces of land, which would allow developers, Langtree, to begin work on 165,000 sq ft of new retail and commercial space. according to the site’s planning permission, work could only begin on the new Denton Retail Park once a link road was built off Ashton Road.
The Developers said "the main barrier to work starting was the significant costs involved".
Tameside Council bosses have now secured £1.7m from the second round of the Greater Manchester Growth Deal - meaning the £2m link road scheme can begin, the derelict Old Co-op Building on Ashton Road will be knocked down after another compulsory purchase order, originally it was planned for a retail development but now around 200 homes could be built. Permission has already been granted for 67 new homes adjacent to the site at Edward Street.
It's subject to a planning inquiry later in the year. Council officials and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne are opposing 100pc housing for the site, prefering a mixed-use site.
The former Oldham Batteries site has become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour, vandalism, fly-tipping and illegal traveller camps since the former works closed more than a decade ago.
Coun Peter Robinson said: “The site has become a grot-spot, so we’re delighted that it’s finally moving forward.
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The relief road will link the A6017 Ashton Road at the M67 Junction 1 slip road to the A57 Hyde Road in Denton.
Reddish and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne said: “The link road, which is desperately needed, unlocks the whole site for development. This is great news and work can finally now begin