Tameside is set to undergo monumental change in 2025 with a number of big schemes on the horizon.

Locals are pushing for more housing, town centre growth and a change to the look and feel of the borough. 

With a brand new leadership team running the town hall after what has been a turbulent year, there is optimism that new building projects can give Tameside the boost it needs. 

The onus is on the local authorities to spark the projects that will breathe new life into the borough’s nine towns.

The focal point of change in 2025 will come with Godley Green, where further progress is expected to come through groundworks and potential land purchasing. Housing is a priority for the borough, but there are ambitious plans in the area to boost the leisure and culture sector as well.

Here is a closer look at the key projects that are expecting to progress in 2025:

Godley Green

The plan to build thousands of new homes, creating Godley Green Garden Village, has long been mooted in the borough.

It is by far the largest housing scheme planned for Tameside – and it finally saw approval in November 2023. The 2,150 planned homes will be built in phases over the next decade.

The proposal would see a new ‘village’ split into two halves by Godley Brook, each with its own centre, including up to 1,300 sqm of retail space, 1,600 sqm of commercial and 1,000 sqm for community use.

According to Tameside Council, MADE Partnership – a joint venture between Barratt Redrow plc, Homes England, and Lloyds Banking Group – was established to provide the expertise and financial capacity necessary to deliver large-scale and complex developments such as Godley Green. MADE Partnership’s agreement with Tameside Council is its first deal to be announced since launching in September, and it follows MADE Partnership’s recent acquisition of land at Godley Green.

Stalybridge west

The council expects to see the redevelopment of Stalybridge to progress in 2025.

Town hall bosses approved the development plan for the area in April 2024. The western side of the town centre near the train station has been targeted for redevelopment after the area became the focus for the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Town Centre Challenge in 2018.

New housing; developing unused council buildings; improving road, cycling and pedestrian routes into the town centre; improving the public realm; and better jobs and services for the area are all touted in the delivery strategy.

Although no further detail on what the plans will look like have yet been released, a total of £11.2m is allocated for infrastructure works within Stalybridge West. 

This comes from the £19.907m the council was granted as part of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) capital grant which can only be spent on the programme at Stalybridge.

Ashton Market Square 

Work has finally started on the multi-million pound revamp of Ashton-under-Lyne’s market square.

A huge new ‘feature canopy’ is set to replace the market stalls and kiosks and create ‘flexible units’ for traders, as well as for events and six kiosks, which would mostly be divided into two units.

Members of Tameside’s planning panel granted permission in 2023 for plans for the square, next to Ashton Market Hall and the Town Hall, to be transformed with £10.8m of Levelling Up funding.

Extra care units at Hattersley

After getting initial approval back in 2020, the plan to create a 91-room ‘extra care’ affordable apartment block in Hattersley is expected to move forwards in 2025. 

The site would have its own beauty salon and cafe and all of the homes would be built for affordable rent – at 80 per cent of the market rent.

The apartment block would be split between 31 two-bed and 60 one-bed flats, and many would be wheelchair accessible.

The mix of homes is designed to cater to ‘independent’ people or couples aged over 55, who are either retired or looking to retire, or to downsize into ‘more modern and flexible housing’ that can adapt to care requirements.

A57 Bypass

The bypass that has been in the works for half a century is finally set to see building work start next year. 

The long-awaited and much needed bypass scheme will make history when building work starts in 2025, according to National Highways. Plans for the bypass have evolved over the last 50 years, but have never gone ahead, until now. 

The Secretary of State for Transport approved Development Consent Orders for the Link Roads Project last year, but a legal challenge delayed the scheme further. That legal challenge was rejected by the Court of Appeal earlier this year, meaning work to enable construction can now begin. 

These specialist preparations will include the construction of a specific works site located off the A57, alongside other activity, paving the way for the construction of the bypass itself early next year. The bypass is expected to take approximately three years to complete.

Hartshead Power Station

The old coal-fired power station site will be transformed into a new park and houses after planning permission was granted in September. 

The old Hartshead Power Station and Millbrook Sidings in Stalybridge have been vacant for 35 years.

The site is now due to be transformed into a park and 162 new homes. The site was shut in the 1980s, as planning committee members in Tameside heard numerous applications promising garden centres and leisure facilities haven’t been followed through in the years since. But Casey Group Limited now has a £12.5m masterplan comprising four development ‘zones’.

Zone one is focused on ponds and surroundings at the Printworks, which would be protected as an ‘ecology area’. Zone two, where a community hub was planned, has been redesigned to become an ‘ecology enhancement area’ on the former power station site to the north of Spring Bank Lane.

Zone three is woodland along the route of a former railway line, while zone four is the former railway sidings off Crowswood Drive – where the 162 homes are planned.