Future of mill where famous Second World War bomber was built hangs in the balance

The future of a historic cotton mill in Oldham remains uncertain after the council deferred a decision over a major development proposal.

Developer Navid Dean wants to transform Ivy Mill in Failsworth by adding four new floors with 98 apartments to the top of the historic building. Officers recommended refusing the plans because developers were disputing their need to provide affordable housing on the site.

But after the council received a last-minute offer to include 10 affordable homes in the designs, the planning officer agreed to give the developers more time to work out the details of the new plans.

The 140-year-old former mill 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 daily. Later, it played a vital role in producing the war plane, the Lancaster Bomber, which earned it a visit from King George in 1939.

The plans involved adding four new floors in a tiered layout onto the top of the mill, resting on the five existing floors. Three of the floors would continue to be used for business. They currently house the Ivy Mill Business Centre among other enterprises.

But the top floor would be converted into flats. Including the existing apartments on the lower floors, the building would house a total of 102 apartments – six one-beds, 85 two-beds and 13 three-beds.

The apartments would house a minimum of 215 people once fully occupied but only have parking spaces for 50.

According to objections submitted to the council’s planning portal, this could create a ‘huge problem’ for traffic and parking on the surrounding roads. Others raised concerns about the limited number of amenities in the area.

One objector wrote: “Failsworth is already struggling with traffic, lack of doctors appointments, lacking of school places and other amenities. This would just cause more strain on an already full small town that doesn’t need more of this type of property.”

While another added the scheme seemed “ill thought-out”.

Planning officers agreed with some of the concerns raised, writing that the development was not ‘within 480m of amenities’, which goes against the borough’s planning framework.

The amended plans will return to the planning committee for a final decision.