Three new schemes across Tameside will deliver homes for adults with disabilities and complex needs who require round-the-clock care.

The local authority has now entered into agreements with two housing companies for the management of three supported housing projects.

The former Stalybridge Police Station on Corporation Street is being demolished and the site redeveloped to provide 24 self-contained flats for people with learning or physical disabilities.

Once used by the Cheshire Constabulary, and then later Greater Manchester Police, Stalybridge Police station was built in 1968 and remained in use for 37 years.

However it has lain empty since 2005 and has fallen into a state of ‘disrepair and dereliction’, becoming ‘Stalybridge’s biggest eyesore’ according to local councillors.

The building will be owned and run by Great Places Housing Group, and made available to the council for use by people who are eligible under the Care Needs Act. This accommodation was granted planning permission last summer and is set to be available by June 2024.

The Tameside Housing Needs Assessment predicted that by 2031 there will be a need for an additional 83 units of specialist accommodation for people with learning disabilities, and 281 units of supported accommodation for people with mental health needs.

By 2035 the borough will need an extra 720 wheelchair friendly homes, including 187 fully wheelchair adapted properties.

Stalybridge Police Station. Photo: Google Maps.

Another development, approved in December, also in Stalybridge, will see 17 one and two-bedroom flats build on Grosvenor Street.

The land is currently ‘derelict open space’ and is presumed to have been left vacant as part of the wider clearance of the former gas works and buildings to the north of High Street.

It would be run by Great Places Group for people who have been diagnosed with mental health needs, and is anticipated to open from September next year.

Finally a three bedroom house on Sandybank Avenue in Hattersely would be used to support wo people with learning disabilities, run by a 24-hour staff team.

The property will be owned and offered by Onward Homes and is estimated could be made available from this spring.

A council report states: “The schemes have been identified as part of wider plans to build supported living capacity to support people to live in their own homes in the borough.”

They would also enable people to return to be cared for in the borough out of costly placements elsewhere.

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