Town centre to get apartments, public square, and possibly one confused bat
Excitement is building, and also being torn down, in Rochdale, as the council gives the go-ahead to demolish several buildings near the train station in the latest phase of its grand plan to transform “the bits you pass while running for the 10:13 to Todmorden.”
The approved demolition of 33–41 Maclure Road, plus a partial nibble at the back of 29–31, is part of the Rochdale Rail Corridor Strategy, a regeneration blueprint that promises homes, public squares, and possibly the first functioning sandwich shop not named Greggs.
In addition to flattening things in a controlled and paperwork-heavy manner, developers will convert the neighbouring Victorian building into 33 apartments and some “ground floor commercial uses,” which could be anything from artisan coffee to a vape shop that sells anxiety.
The demolition is funded by a £1 million chunk of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Brownfield Land Fund, a pot of cash designed to transform derelict buildings into slightly less derelict ones, provided no bats complain.
Indeed, the council has made it crystal clear: if any bats are found mid-demolition, works must stop immediately, and a qualified bat whisperer must be summoned at once. No building, no matter how strategic, may be allowed to violate the Geneva Convention on Chiropteran Rights.
A new public square will also be created, giving local commuters somewhere fresh to sit, loiter, or ponder why their train is cancelled again. Early mock-ups show paving, trees, and possibly a single bench that will be immediately taken over by teens vaping to the soundtrack of a tinny Bluetooth speaker.
Cllr Danny Meredith called the strategy “a major focus for regeneration” and highlighted the 7,000 new homes planned along the Calder Valley line. “Our stations are an untapped opportunity,” he said, presumably while eyeing Maclure Road and imagining something less… grey.
The council has confirmed it is satisfied with the demolition method statement, which includes essential provisions like not demolishing buildings during rush hour or directly onto the Metrolink tracks, no matter how tempting.
Reporting from down the M62, we at the Rochdale Times advise locals to watch this space, and the sky, because soon this stretch of town will either be reborn as a gleaming urban hub or haunted by a single confused bat who just wanted a nap.
