Controversial £100m vision for Foxdenton

PLANS . . . how the development could look

£100 million proposals have been drawn up for a business park and hundreds of new homes on a controversial 121-acre stretch of green land in Chadderton.

Outline planning permission for the 49-hectare site at Foxdenton was submitted yesterday. it includes:

::Up to 500 detached, semi-detached and mews homes with two to five bedrooms.

::A 700,000 sq ft warehouse with manufacturing and office developments.

::More than 20 acres of open space between Broadway and Foxdenton Lane.

Full permission is also being sought for a link road through the site.

Officials hope the site closeness to the M60 and M62 will attract national as well as local businesses.

But hundreds of residents have opposed the development by signing a petition and attending public consultation about the proposals, first unveiled in January.

Developer Foxdenton LLP is a joint venture between North-West-based Seddon and Grasscroft Property.

It claims the development would create more than 1,500 new full-time jobs, with 165 construction jobs a year during the building.

Michael Coulter of Foxdenton LLP said extensive consultation had been held with residents, businesses and others.

“These plans will create a sustainable and thriving community with significant benefits to the local economy,” he said.

Councillor Dave Hibbert said: “It is an outline application; there is a lot of consultation and a lot of talking with a lot of different people to be done. The fact is this land is privately owned. If the private owners want to sell it, something is going to go there. There is no point in standing like Canute, resisting the tide.”

A spokesman for Foxdenton and District Protection Group, which opposes the plans, said: “To date, the developers have not replied or acknowledged any of the locals’ concerns, objections or petition signed by 627 people and the council, though having attended our meetings, has not given us satisfactory replies to any of the concerns.

“The proposed business park and units aren’t viable: there are hundreds of unused units in the surrounding area already empty.

“We want to protect one of only two remaining green spaces of this size in the area, not only for now but for future generations.”