Historic cotton mill in Failsworth to be turned into more than 100 apartments

Part of a historic cotton mill in Oldham is due to be transformed into an residential complex with more than 100 apartments – despite opposition from locals.

An application for Ivy Mill in Failsworth was approved at a planning meeting last night (Wednesday). 

The 140-year-old building on Crown Street is not a listed building but is steeped in local history.

Located in the Failsworth Pole Conservation Area, it used to employ over 75,000 spindlers.

Later, it played a vital role in producing the war plane, the Lancaster Bomber, which earned it a visit from King George in 1939.

Developer Navid Dean received permission to add four new floors in a tiered structure to the top of the five-storey building.

The new floors along with the converted top floors of the mill will contain 102 apartments – six one-beds, 85 two-beds and 13 three-beds.

Three of the floors will continue to be used for business.

They currently house the Ivy Mill Business Centre among other enterprises. 

The application came in front of the planning committee once before in July, when councillors decided to defer a final decision over ongoing discussions about the amount of affordable housing to be made available on site.

At the time, Mr Dean’s agent made a last minute offer to include 10 affordable homes in the designs. 

The approval will also be subject to a £112,000 contribution towards improving public open space at Higher Memorial Park.

More than £32,000 will go towards improving the green space and £80 will go towards improving the offer for children and young people at the park.

The developer’s agent, Simon Plowman, told the committee: “It’s a project that we believe will significantly enhance the community.

"Like many areas of GM there’s a shortage of housing in this area.” 

The application received 14 objections from locals on the planning portal.

One objector, Jill Wate, told the planning panel that the development would have an ‘detrimental impact’ on residents and that dentists, GPs and schools in the area were already ‘struggling to cope’ with the demand of the area. 

The owner of a family-run travel agency that has neighboured the mill for 40 years, Wate described the ‘nightmare junction’ at Wrigley Head and Crown Street.

She said: “The developer giving £112,000 to the council will make no difference to the dangerous situation created if this is passed. … It is a big problem I anticipate on Crown Street.” 

Councillors also raised concerns about the limited parking.

With an additional 50 parking spaces proposed by the developer, the total number of spaces would be 162, with some already in use by businesses. 

But with 211 rooms in the apartment block, councillor Peter Hobin said he felt the number of spaces was ‘inadequate’. 

However, the plans were still passed by a majority vote, on the condition that the developer agrees to a construction management plan to limit the impact on local residents.

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