Muck and brass, peerages and politics: the unfolding drama of Greater Manchester’s 24m sq ft Northern Gateway development zone has all the ingredients of a cracking story. The problem is, it could be a comedy or a tragedy. Some time soon the newly elected city region mayor gets to write the ending.
The story begins with the city-region spatial framework agreed by Greater Manchester’s 10 local councils in October 2016 and ends – probably – on an aristocrat-owned waste disposal site on the Bury/Rochdale borders.
The draft spatial framework releases 11,000 acres from Manchester’s green belt and allocates new development land around the conurbation for the years up to 2035. The 24m sq ft Northern Gateway allocation – stretched along the M60/M62 corridor focused on the northern boroughs of Bury, Rochdale and Oldham – is eye-catchingly vast (see boxout). It is of obvious interest to the logistics sector, thanks to a dwindling supply of large North West warehousing sites.
More than half the land – capable of taking about 16m sq ft – is at Pilsworth, and in the ownership of the Wilton Estate, an off-shoot, via the Earl of Wilton, of the sprawling aristocratic Egerton and Grosvenor dynasties.
Until now nobody has much noticed the Pilsworth sites, occupied by landfill after a career in mineral extraction. But the location – next to the M62, close to the M66 and walking distance from the prime logistics locations of Stakehill and Heywood Distribution Park – is hard to fault. Suddenly Pilsworth is a name to conjure with, and parts of the site are already in play.
Rochdale Council is considering a planning application from Russell Homes for more than 300 acres at Pilsworth including the new link road between Junction 19 of the M62 and Pilsworth Road, along with outline consent for 1.46m sq ft of B2 and B8 floorspace.
Unfortunately for the rest of Pilsworth the mayoral frontrunner, Labour’s Andy Burnham, has explicitly targeted over-generous allocations for the logistics sector. He has called for the spatial strategy to ensure no net loss of green belt.
In a written response to the framework Burnham said: “I am concerned that the proposed framework is not sufficiently ambitious and overly focused on warehousing and distribution developments. While these industries are important, I believe there needs to be a better balance in terms of the jobs and industry we are seeking to bring to Greater Manchester. In particular, a higher priority should be given to the four key sectors – advanced manufacturing, energy, health innovation and digital.”
EG approached Burnham for clarification – there was no reply – but more than 270 objections to the Russells’ Rochdale application suggests he’s got the public mood right.
More alarming for promoters of the Northern Gateway plan, the Manchester devolution settlement gives the mayor a veto over the spatial framework. This could mean a serious re-write.
Simon Grundy, partner at Carter Jonas and advisor to the Wilton Estate, thinks things are moving his way but can’t disguise the risks facing the 988 acre mega-site. Pilsworth North, totalling 165 acres, is likely to see industrial development but master planning is still some way off.
“It’s quite visionary, a game changers” says Grundy. “Flat, green sites like this – ex-landfill but now in remediation – is developable with significant green space and buffer zones to residential.”
“Access to motorways is good, and improvements which help link junction 19 of the M62 to junction 3 of the M66 will open up the whole of our Northern Gateway sites. Obviously we’ve work to do with Highways England, Rochdale Council and Bury Council.”
Grundy says: “We’re keeping our eye on the politics, because the Burnham campaign has talked about removing less land from the green belt, and the spatial framework needs mayoral sign-off.”
If a mayoral intervention – or hold-ups on the infrastructure – don’t get in the way, the site could be oven-ready for 2020.
Grundy says they will probably seek a development partner. “It’s being explored, and not too distantly a developer or developers will come on board, and take on the risk of moving this forward,” he says.
Developers are already taking a keen interest. Daniel Kershaw, director at Russell Homes, says: “There is a real opportunity to improve the economic standing of the borough and its profile as a place to do business, building on the already successful industrial and logistics parks at South Heywood. There is a clear requirement from businesses to expand and locate here, and the borough is fast running out of suitable employment space of the type that we are offering.
Dan Gallagher, joint managing director at shed giant Stoford Properties, says: “Pilsworth is a good site, a good opportunity if brought forward in the right way. We would chuck our hat in the ring.”
But Pilsworth’s future is not yet assured. Anthony Aitken, head of planning at Colliers International in Manchester, warns that completing the Northern Gateway motorway link road will be significant.
He says: “It’s always infrastructure that’s the issue. You have to worry that the cost outstrips the commercial viability. Development will have to be carefully staggered, and I’d expect vigorous discussions on this.”
As for the politics, Aitken declares it “unclear” and “unhelpful.”
“It’s amazing that ten local councils could agree like this – but nobody took into account the mayor,” he says, wistfully.
Andrew Pexton, director at GVA, says: “The Pilsworth site is a natural extension of Heywood and the M62 corridor. It’s near the chimney pots – for labour force – and the motorway junctions, which makes it ideal, particularly when you look at some other sites in the Northern Gateway, secondary sites that are really just there to make up the numbers.”
“I understand what Andy Burnham is doing, but he’s wrong to assume we’ll just get big sheds, and there is no point in sites like this competing with the Cheshire science corridor. This is where an overall Northern Powerhouse strategy could help, to ensure these proposals complement one another, and we need those conversations to take place now the new mayor is elected.”
However, Pexton issues a warning. “We should be grasping the big chances. Yes, Andy Burnham has to keep the voters happy on green belt, but those voters need jobs, too.”
Consultation on the draft framework closed on 31 January. When the new mayor is settled into his office, work on the plan will resume. Submission and adoption are planned for 2018, but if major rewrites are required the timings could slip. The story of the Northern Gateway isn’t over yet.
On the road
Opening the Northern Gateway, and the South Heywood growth area that includes Pilsworth, depends on a new £20m link road.
Rochdale Council is considering a planning application from Russell Homes, including the new 2.2km link road between Junction 19 of the M62 and Pilsworth Road, along with outline consent for 1.46m sq ft of B2 and B8 floorspace. It cuts 17km off the existing return journey to the motorways.
The new link road would be part-funded by grants from Transport for Greater Manchester and Highways England, with the shortfall met by Russell Homes through the release of the proposed housing.
Fact box
Key Northern Gateway projects include:
• The development of land between Junction 3 (Pilsworth) of the M66 and Junctions 18 and 19 of the M62 providing around 16m sq ft of new floorspace;
• The extension of Stakehill industrial estate to the north, east and south, providing around 5.2m sq ft of employment floorspace;
• The completion of the Kingsway Business Park, providing around 2.4m sq ft of new floorspace with a further extension to the south of the M62 delivering 4.8m sq ft of employment floorspace;
The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework
The draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, agreed by councils in October 2016, will set the background for housing and commercial development to 2035. As well as the Northern Gateway, it focuses on the east, west and southern airport areas among 50 major development sites. It removes 11,000 acres from the green belt.
