Residents to be evacuated while mill chimney is blown up

Residents living around a former ‘death trap’ mill site are to be evacuated while its last standing chimney is blown up.

Oldham council has confirmed the chimney of Hartford Mill is to be demolished using explosives this Sunday, October 1 at 10am.

Residents living close to the mill site in Werneth will be evacuated while the demolition takes place by the landowner.

Once cleared, it is expected that the site will be redeveloped for housing.

It had been intended that the 229 ft chimney structure of the former Grade-Two listed cotton mill, which opened in 1907, would be demolished with a specialist machine.

However, these plans were not possible as the machine was unavailable, the local authority said.

It will now be taken down through the use of explosives.

Council leader Arooj Shah said: “I’ve been told knocking down any chimney, especially one which is quite close to housing, is a complex job.

"That’s why it has remained standing while the rest of the mill was bulldozed.

“The removal of it will be an important milestone in this project and once it’s gone, the site can be cleared so it can then be used for much-needed new housing in the future.

“The council does everything it can to support building on brownfield land, to reduce pressure to build on the greenbelt.

"This site is a great example of that.

“The demolition will inconvenience residents living close to the site but it should only be for a small period of time and our teams are in touch with them.

“We also know people will come to see the chimney fall but bear in mind there will be a number of road closures and diversions in place on the day.

“And if you are elsewhere in Oldham on the day and hear a big bang – now you know what it will be.”

Hartford Mill ceased cotton spinning in the 1950s and was then later used by Littlewoods until 1991.

Despite being an icon of the borough’s industrial heritage, after becoming empty the building was plagued by vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

There had been 250 emergency incidents in just three years – including arson and serious injury.

In 2014, the mill was hit by a fire that caused considerable damage and a year later a teenager died after falling from the roof.

In 2019, Oldham’s planning committee approved ‘with regret’ proposals to demolish the privately-owned building.  

Merely making the building wind and watertight would cost around £6m, they were told.

The decision was referred to the Secretary of State as it involved the complete demolition of a listed building.

Permission was subsequently granted because the government agreed that redevelopment would outweigh the loss of the listed building due to its poor state of repair and continuing blight on the local area.

Demolition work began in 2020 and had been expected to take six months, but was halted due to Covid-19 restrictions, resuming in the summer of 2021.

The rest of the site was cleared and the chimney is now the only structure still standing.

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