Keeping the tower view

DIGGLE residents, are worried views of the village’s iconic landmark could be spoiled by proposed developments on the site of the former Shaw’s pallet works.

And they are pressing for assurances that open fields on both sides of the works’s entrance will not vanish with a new scheme.

More than 100 villagers thronged Wrigley Mill church hall in a debate organised by the Diggle Community Association, and attended by Alan Roughley, ward councillor for the Saddleworth North, and Charles Baumann, Governor of Saddleworth school .

They heard one idea under consideration is a 100 per cent development of the site which has more than nine acres of green belt and the remainder zoned for development in the UDP.

Another option is a mix of commercial and residential properties, including a care village, or alternatively, a replacement Saddleworth secondary school with some residential development and care village facility.

However, the meeting raised serious concerns about maintaining the open fields and the possibility of development obstructing the view of the grade-two listed building with its distinctive clock tower (pictured left).

English Heritage would have to be consulted if any of the tower’s sight lines, which includes an office block, were obstructed by new buildings.

Residents felt the new school proposal would not be big enough to accommodate a big influx of pupils and a large school would be inappropriate close to the main road.

They argued there should be a buffer zone between Huddersfield Road and new buildings.

Councillor Roughley said the current all-weather pitch at Saddleworth School would remain even if houses were built there.

The meeting heard a number of other school locations in Saddleworth were still under review by Oldham Council, including Churchill playing fields, the old mills near Dovestone, and another undisclosed site.

Nigel Shaw, chair of the DCA, said: “There was considerable support for moving the school to Diggle but strong grounds for using the whole of the site for a first-rate school. It should not be compromised by trying to squeeze too much other development onto the site.”

Further meetings will keep residents updated.