'Unpleasant and alien' housing estate development turned down

Planners have refused permission for developers to build 17 homes next to an industrial estate as they would be ‘unpleasant and alien’ for residents.

The scheme for the semi- and fully detached houses off Manchester Road in the Roaches area of Mossley was slammed as providing a ‘poor standard of living’, while the neighbouring works units would cause an ‘overbearing impact’ for those living there. 

Occupants would have accessed the new homes via the Roaches Industrial Estate, with HGVs sharing the access road with family cars and pedestrians. 

Mossley Town Council objected to the proposals, with Cllr Taf Sharif saying: “As a local councillor I appreciate the need for more housing across the borough, however the benefits of developing this site for residential purposes do not outweigh the loss of a significant amount of employment land in the town, for which there is a proven need and demand.  

“Demand is exceeding supply and jobs need to be created in the locality. The area already looks like an industrial estate with various other organisations already operating from the vicinity.” 

She also raised concerns about potential chemical contamination of the brownfield site, which used to be a gas works.  

“Concrete, Japanese knotweed, asbestos and former storage tanks potentially impacting soil with methane, benzene, naphthalene and ethanol still likely to be in the ground are just a few of the concerns.” 

Other objections raised by members of the public included loss of trade for businesses on the industrial estate during construction, an increase in traffic leading to more danger close to a blind bend, potential damage to neighbouring properties, and that a previous application to permanently site caravans there was turned down over land contamination concerns.     

Julian Jackson, Director of Place at Tameside Council, said in his report that the development would also lead to loss of 'established employment premises’. 

“The proposed residential use in this location would result in a poor standard of living for future occupiers, detrimental to their amenity, with prevailing character of employment operations close by creating an unpleasant and alien living situation for future occupiers. 

“The ability of neighbouring businesses to operate and expand without potential unreasonable restrictions in the future, as a result of noise disturbance and complaints, may impede full use of the established industrial premises in the future.”