Waterside plan sunk

Proposed site ... land off Grimshaw Lane, Chadderton

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PLANS to build a 45-bedroom waterside hotel in Chadderton are unlikely to go ahead, the Chronicle can reveal.

Oldham Council is claiming the land back from the developer because building work is yet to start after three years.

The council and Terry McNicholas, owner of Udunk Ltd, are in a row over a plot of land along the bank of the Rochdale Canal, off Broadgate and Grimshaw Lane.

A far from happy Mr McNicholas says he bought the land as part of a deal which saw him sell the former Royton Health Centre site to Oldham Council but he has now lost the Chadderton plot because he did not utilise it quickly enough.

There is understood to have been a clause in the deal that allows Oldham Council to reclaim possession of the land if work was not completed within three years ­- the authority has now activated this clause.

Mr McNicholas says his application for planning permission to build the four-storey hotel and restaurant took so long to be dealt with by the council that he was unable to meet the deadline. However, Oldham Council leader Jean Stretton says the developer continued to change his mind on what he wanted to do with the land.

Councillor Stretton said: "The firm was given three years to complete the work, which we consider to be a more than generous time frame. However, no building work has started and Udunk Ltd has also altered its plans on numerous occasions. The firm initially revised the plans and advised that it wanted to build a pub/restaurant and then amended the scheme further to inform us it wanted to construct a hotel and banqueting suite.

"We were then informed by Udunk Ltd that it was looking to sell the plot at auction, with the buyer then being allowed to construct whatever they wanted on the site.

Legal

"Three years on, the development timetable has repeatedly slipped and we are a long way away from the original position agreed with the company. In line with the legal agreement Udunk Ltd signed with the council, we are now choosing to exercise our option to take back possession of the site and return the money paid for it as detailed in the original agreement."

The site will now move back in the possession of the council.

Mr McNicholas says he submitted the hotel plans for consideration for planning permission two years ago but has since been contacted my the council, regularly, asking him to comply with conditions on the application­ - which he says he has.

He added: "The reason I've not met this three year deadline is that it has been so difficult to get planning permission. They keep throwing conditions at me. I have complied with them all but it has taken up so much of my time."