Fight to rebuild arch collapses

Oldham Council planning committee

A SADDLEWORTH group has lost its campaign to save a piece of heritage dating to the 1850s.

Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents’ Association urged Tesco to rebuild the demolished Wellington Mill arch when it creates a new store in Chew Valley Road.

But the committee voted to agree to the supermarket’s request to vary a condition to rebuild the landmark and instead install a display board charting the history of the building.

Tesco said that the proposed relocation couldn’t be done due to an existing sewer and complications with the foundations. The committee heard there was actually no mention of retaining the arch in the planning conditions, but just to keep some form of facade.

The association’s Mike Rooke said Tesco had contributed little else to the community and should meet its obligation.

He said: “Heritage is important to all of us. It’s not only in our past, it’s in our present as a memory and ensures a richer future for generations to come.

“The least Tesco can do is to give us all something to remember our industrial past.

“Our past can be an anchor for us, rooting us in our culture, fostering pride and a sense of identity in a community. The company has no moral right to bulldoze its way into our neighbourhood without leaving a tangible reminder of our past.”

Ward councillor John McCann said Tesco had a history of gradually changing planning applications and should be made to stick to it and if not it should cost them.

He noted that United Utilities said it had reservations because of the sewer, not that it couldn’t be done. Any money saved should go to the community not Tesco’s profits.

Councillor Paul Martin said the sewer was a red herring as civil engineers would be able to solve the problem. Councillor’s suggested the arch could also be built further back.

But Nick Wheeler, for the applicant, said his client had undertaken all requisite actions to the mill facade and the information board, which the community can contribute ideas to, was a sensible solution to a development problem.

He added that it was planned for the store to be open by Christmas.