The 'contentious' plan that locals fear will push picturesque corner of Greater Manchester to breaking point

Although tourists flocking in on glorious sunny days and rush hour traffic clogging up the highway aren’t new issues, there are concerns a new plan would push the area beyond breaking point.

More than 300 new homes are planned. And earlier this year, Bloor Homes officially submitted proposals for a primary school; and an extension to the car park at Hollingworth Lake Country Park.

The majority of these homes – 122 of them – would have four bedrooms. There would also be three and five-bed homes.  A total of 47 two and three-bedroom homes would be available for rent at social housing rates. A new park and a tree-lined ‘green corridor’ linking Rochdale Canal to Hollingworth Lake and a circular footpath network are also planned. The site off Hollingworth road is currently used as farmland, and many in the area want to see that continue.

Nick Butterworth, 57, who has just moved back to the area after living in Rochdale for years, said: “I know we need more homes, but it doesn’t solve the housing crisis because they’re not affordable, they’re luxury mainly.

“These roads around the lake are quite congested at the moment. The addition of however many cars from that development is going to create gridlock. I don’t see how it’s a viable scheme. It’s a beautiful area but even after the building work is complete it’ll cause gridlock. That will not be not good for tourism in the area.”

Walking along Hollingworth Lake, just outside Littleborough’s village centre, the number of tourists flooding the area even during the week is clear to see. The Local Democracy Reporting Service bumped into a number of people from the Yorkshire area and further afield who had come to the lake for a day out to enjoy the sunshine. 

Many said they were regular visitors – something Nick believes could be impacted by increased traffic congestion. Two of those regulars are Trevor and Pamela Altham – who came from Rochdale to walk eight-year-old Patterdale Terrier, Murphy. The pair say they come pretty much every other week to enjoy the lakeside walks and the country park.

Trevor said: “It’s busy enough without so many more homes coming. It’s going to get worse for sure.  We’ve come in on the bus today but by car it takes about 15 minutes, on a bad day it can take much longer – almost double. We come up every so often but this must be doing the heads in of locals.”

Pamela described the traffic around school pick-up time as ‘standstill’, with rush hour being no better. She explained that no amount of highway access work from the developer could ease traffic further up the road on Wildhouse Lane or Rakewood Road.

Local resident Liz Dale offered her thoughts on an alternative: “We’re concerned about the increase in traffic as the roads are busy already. My main concern is the volume of traffic. The access is off a small narrow road and there is no way of widening it. It’s obviously a popular area that people come to enjoy. 

“Housing is needed and I understand that but it would be a shame if it became too populated. I sometimes wonder, you see empty houses, you do think they could buy up those and convert them into housing.”

Despite this project being known about in the local area for years, there is still much confusion over detail of the plans. The creation of a new primary school is the biggest sticking point for most – which is included in what is called a hybrid application.

The Pennines Township Committee meeting on September 17 heard how the primary school is unlikely to be built, but is part of plans to release a parcel of land to push the development forwards. 

James Clark, regional managing director for Bloor Homes, said previously: “We are delighted to be bringing forward these detailed proposals for new homes in Littleborough. We have given great consideration to ensure we can sensitively deliver the new homes that Rochdale Council earmarked the site for during the Places for Everyone process and we look forward to hearing what the community has to say.

“As a highly regarded 5-star homebuilder focussed on quality and placemaking our objective is to deliver a new neighbourhood that will have a distinctive layout, with a central parkland that providing a green corridor from Rochdale Canal through to Hollingworth Lake, retaining existing trees, hedgerows and planting new throughout the development.”

However, Barry Cropper, a local campaigner from the Littleborough Civic Trust, stood before the Pennines Township Committee recently demanding a public meeting about the development. This was supported by Coun John Taylor – who dubbed this ‘the most contentious application that has affected Littleborough’ since he’s been on the council. Mr Cropper went on to suggest this is actually ‘the most contentious and biggest application the village will ever face’. 

Coun Richard Jackson suggested Mr Cropper make his request in writing to the planning team at Rochdale Council. So, despite Coun Taylor supporting the suggestion, there was still no confirmation whether a public meeting will go ahead.