UDP - Chapter 17 - Ashton Town Centre
Unitary Development Plan
Chapter 17
Ashton-under-Lyne Town Centre
| Ref | Proposal | Justification |
|---|---|---|
| ATC1 | New highway construction scheme to link Oldham Road, at its junction with Wellington Road, to Richmond Street opposite Rayner Lane.
This is part of the Ashton highway strategy and a continuation of the proposed Moss Link Road (ASH1). |
The Ashton Highway Strategy
Proposals ATC1 - 5 inclusive, along with Proposals ASH1 and ASH3 previously described, comprise the major components of the Council's highway strategy for Ashton-under-Lyne during the middle of the 1990's. They are intended, together, to deal with the impact of traffic growth and of the extension of the M66 motorway on access to Ashton town centre, to assist in attracting further development to the centre, and to minimise the adverse effects of traffic on the environment within the principal commercial areas, in a manner which avoids large scale disruption to existing property. In short, the strategy will be to provide a second high quality east-west through route, from the A635 Manchester Road at The Snipe and from the extended M66 motorway, around the northern side of the town centre, to meet up with the A635 again at the Telephone Exchange intersection to the east. This should be particularly attractive to traffic making west to north and east to north movements as well as to vehicles heading for the car parks on this side of the centre. At the same time, capacity will be increased on the existing southern by-pass by optimum design of the intersections. ATC1. This proposal is effectively a component of ASH1, the Moss Link Road, and it is unlikely that one would be constructed without the other. Their function will be to provide an alternative and more direct route from the A635 and the M66 to the A627 north of the town centre, and on into the northern part of the centre itself, thereby relieving what would otherwise be gross overloading of the A635 at Manchester Road - Park Parade after opening of the motorway. The route proposed, in the north west part of the centre, is mostly across unused railway land and a Council depot but also affects part of the Norweb site, with a widened Wellington Road becoming two-way east of Cavendish Street. Part or all of this route could also prove useful for an eventual extension of the Manchester Metrolink L.R.T. (light rapid transit) system into Ashton town centre, whether this uses a rail or road alignment out of Manchester. The new road should have a further benefit of facilitating and encouraging the redevelopment for commercial or industrial purposes of an extensive area of under-used land on the edge of the centre (see Proposal ATC14). The planning permission granted by the Secretary of State for the Environment in March 1993, for the construction of the Moss Link Road (see proposal ASH1), incorporated the section of the new link from Richmond Street to Oldham Road. |
| ATC3 | New highway construction scheme to provide an improved link from Wellington Road, at its junction with Turner Lane, to Penny Meadow at its junction with Arlington Street.
This is part of the Ashton highway strategy and will follow an alignment on the south side of the Victoria to Stalybridge railway. |
ATC3. This proposal, along with the recently completed widening of Wellington Road at one end and Arlington Street Link at the other, represents another part of the chain of road schemes on the northern side, which together will increase capacity between The Snipe and the east of Ashton and help to ensure that good access is provided to the centre. The alignment mostly involves Council owned land currently in use for car parking but will affect certain properties. It will relieve sections of Wellington Road and Penny Meadow which are also used for shopping and office purposes and enable conditions for the many pedestrians circulating in this area to be improved, possibly with closure of at least a short section of Wellington Road. |
| ATC4 | Re-design of the Park Parade / Cavendish Street road junction.
This is part of the Ashton highway strategy and will increase traffic capacity. At the same time it will provide more direct access for traffic into Stamford Street West, improve linkage for pedestrians between Stamford Street Central and West, and improve pedestrian security for all movements across the junction. |
ATC4. This major intersection between the A635 and the A627 on the south side of the centre is already operating close to capacity for much of the day and is saturated at peak times. It is predicted that when the M66 is extended to Ashton in 1998 east-west traffic will increase by at least a further 30%. Optimum efficiency of operation is vital if access to and from the town centre is not to be seriously impeded and congestion spread into other roads which drivers may seek as alternatives.
The current road system immediately north of the Cavendish Street roundabout presents a barrier to both pedestrian and vehicle movement into the run-down Stamford Street West and Henry Square area. The expected reduction in north-south through traffic after completion of the Manchester Outer Ring Road in 1998 should provide an opportunity in the re-design of the junction to achieve better integration with the core of the centre and therefore assist the Council's objective of regeneration of this area. The junction itself is an important pedestrian crossing point and efforts will also need to be made to create the best possible conditions for their movement if areas to the south such as the food store and Portland Basin are to be effectively integrated into the rest of the centre. Detailed design work is yet to be undertaken and the form of the improvement is therefore not determined at this time. |
| ATC5 | Re-design of the Park Parade / Telephone Exchange / Memorial Gardens road junction.
This is part of the Ashton highway strategy and will increase capacity and to improve pedestrian security. |
ATC5. Similar general considerations apply to this third major intersection on the A635, situated on the south eastern side of the centre (the reconstruction of the most westerly junction at Chester Square was carried out during 1991). Moreover, as a result of the recently constructed Arlington Street Link it is now connected more directly to the A670 route running through the northern part of the town centre, which at a later date will become part of a northern by-pass extending across Ashton Moss to the M66 and back to the A635 at The Snipe. The role of this junction may be increased even further if longer term aspirations to remove through traffic from Oldham Road and Cavendish Street in order to better integrate the western part of the centre are to be achieved.
With the long and forbidding pedestrian routes currently involved, this junction poses a particular challenge in improving convenience and security for these users. Detailed design work has yet to be undertaken and the form of the improvement is again not determined at this time. |
| ATC6 | Improvement and realignment of the junction between Booth Street and Old Street, to complete the improvement scheme linking Stamford Street Central with Katherine Street by way of Gas Street. | ATC6. This is the outstanding part of the Gas Street Link, one of the schemes required in connection with the enhancement of the central shopping area which the Council has recently been undertaking. Construction of the new alignment of Gas Street from Old Street to Katherine Street has already been completed, and the properties which would need to be demolished to make way for this remaining junction improvement at Old Street / Booth Street have been acquired by the Council. Planning permission for the scheme as a whole was granted in November 1990, but completion has been delayed by the need to obtain Conservation Area consent for demolition. The Gas Street Link will form part of an inner circulatory route for traffic wishing to access car parks and commercial properties on the southern and western sides of the shopping centre and will allow better penetration of these areas by buses approaching the bus station from the south. |
| ATC7 | Development of a new Magistrates Courts building on a site bounded by Henry Square, Welbeck Street South, Brook Street East and Back Portland Street, but excluding Portland Mill. | ATC7. A new Magistrates Courts complex for Tameside is required in order to overcome numerous practical difficulties and inefficiencies in operating two separate petty sessional divisions in existing accommodation in Ashton and Dukinfield, which is inadequate in many respects for current and future needs. Examination of several alternative locations within the town centre has resulted in this site on the northern side of Henry Square being selected as the preferred option. Home Office funding has been secured, and acquisition and clearance of the site has taken place. Outline planning permission for the development was granted in August 1993 and reserved matters were approved in June 1994, with an expectation of construction commencing during 1995. This major project should do much to upgrade the appearance of the run-down Henry Square area, and help to stimulate further investment in other sites in this western part of the town centre which have redevelopment or refurbishment potential. |
| ATC10 | Renovation and extension of the existing library buildings between Old Street, Oldham Road and Cotton Street East, to form an enlarged and improved Tameside Central Library. | ATC10. The Ashton Library on Old Street was closed during 1994 because of structural problems and the service transferred temporarily to other premises. Even before this enforced closure, the existing building was considered to be inadequate to provide the range of facilities, interior space and disabled access required for a modern library and arts service. However, by adapting and refurbishing the existing building and bringing the first floor rooms and the rear annexe back into use, it should be possible to both give a new lease of life to this Grade II listed building, and contribute to the revitalisation of the western part of the town centre. Council funding is available for some structural works to be carried out and in early 1995 various other possible funding sources were being investigated. |
| ATC11 | Extension of the Old Cross Street car park onto the site currently occupied by sectional buildings, subject to their use being only temporary. | ATC11. It was originally envisaged that this area would be laid out at the same time as the reconstruction of the adjacent Old Cross Street car park which began in August 1992. The site could provide up to 70 further parking spaces conveniently close to the eastern side of the shopping area, helping to replace on-street spaces which are being lost as a result of the enhancements to the shopping streets. However, Council staffing requirements in connection with the Poll Tax, and more recently the need to find alternative accommodation during the closure of Ashton Library, have meant extending the use of the sectional buildings, and completion of the scheme is therefore dependent on these becoming surplus to requirements. |
| ATC12 | Development Opportunity Area: The area of existing but in parts run down properties bounded by Oldham Road, Old Street, Cavendish Street, Park Parade, Chester Square, St. Peters Street, Welbeck Street South, Brook Street East, Bentinck Street and Cotton Street East, lying within the recently extended the Ashton Town Centre Conservation Area.
A mixture of office, leisure, residential, commercial and light industrial uses would be appropriate but it is not expected that retail uses would form any more than a relatively small scale supporting element. |
ATC12. This western part of the town centre contains almost entirely old property, mostly on cramped sites and in use for a mixture of industrial and commercial purposes. Old Street and particularly Stamford Street West were originally part of the main shopping area but the shifting northwards of the centre of gravity for shopping and more critically, the cutting off of the area west of Cavendish Street by highway schemes has resulted in many properties becoming run-down over the last two decades.
Revitalisation and regeneration of this area is one of the Council's main objectives for the town centre as a whole, involving both redevelopment and refurbishment for a wide variety of uses as appropriate for particular sites, but based around the historic street pattern and an enhanced Henry Square as a focal point. Planning permission has recently been granted for part of Good Hope Mill to be converted to flats, discussions have taken place on various occasions about a scheme for converting Hugh Mason House to a hotel or other leisure or commercial uses and the Magistrates Court proposal is described under ATC7. Development in this area must satisfy the requirements of policy G6a for traffic impact assessment. |
| ATC13 | Development Opportunity Area: The area bounded by Old Street, Warrington Street, Stamford Street and Booth Street, centred on Delamere Street but excluding most frontage property east of there.
Much of the land behind the frontage properties is vacant and the clear potential exists for redevelopment for retail, office and car parking purposes, incorporating a pedestrian link from the southern end of the Staveleigh Way precinct through to Stamford Street. |
ATC13. This area in the heart of the centre contains both vacant buildings and waste ground used as unofficial car parks, and has been a scar on the appearance of the town centre for some years. Yet its position between the established shopping precinct and Stamford Street would seem to offer strong commercial potential, with high levels of pedestrian movement and a position alongside the inner circulatory traffic route. Two alternative schemes for extensive redevelopment were submitted in 1989 but were refused because of failure to meet certain highway requirements. It is considered that new buildings should as far as possible be incorporated within the historic street pattern still surviving in the area. A substantial two storey building for retail and office use at the corner of Old Street and Delamere Street was started in 1994, and planning permission was granted in January 1995 for the formation of a cinema car park at the junction of Delamere Street and Wellington Street. |
| ATC14 | Development Opportunity Area: The area of depots, works and disused railway land bounded by the south side of the road proposal ATC1, the western curve of the Ashton Moss railway triangle, Richmond Street, Kenyon Street, the rear of Layard Street and Wellington Road west of Cavendish Street.
The potential here is for larger scale, free standing retail stores or a retail park, and also for light industrial and warehousing units. |
ATC14. Situated at the north western corner of the town centre, this extensive area is made up of unused land, a depot likely to be closed and under-used works premises, which subject to abandonment of the seldom used eastern curve of the railway triangle could be assembled into one parcel. Planning permission has been granted previously for a major non-food retail park but within a boundary set by a different road alignment to that now proposed as ATC1. A re-designed scheme of this nature could still be practical, or parts of the area could be redeveloped separately, benefiting in either case from what will become a highly visible and accessible location once the proposed new road is opened. Development in this area must satisfy the requirements of policy G6a for traffic impact assessment. |
| ATC15 | Development Opportunity Area: The area of warehouses, tyre depots and vacant land bounded by Oldham Road, Wellington Road, Yorkshire Street and the Victoria to Stalybridge railway.
This area has the greatest potential for larger scale leisure developments such as a hotel, multi screen cinema or bowling alley, or for offices or free standing retail stores. |
ATC15. This prominent area has the advantages of being situated alongside two major traffic routes and a railway, on the northern edge of the town centre, and immediately opposite the site of the new shopping complex and reconstructed bus station. It will be visible to even more traffic after construction of the road schemes forming the northern by-pass. The area is poorly utilised and unattractive at the present time and would appear to be particularly suitable for redevelopment for the types of leisure uses not well provided in the centre up to now. Outline planning permission was granted in December 1993 for the erection of a bingo and social club, food and non-food retail outlets, and relocation of the existing tyre centre, on the larger part of this site west of Yorkshire Street. A further permission for these uses was granted in March 1994. Development in this area must satisfy the requirements of policy G6a for traffic impact assessment. |
| ATC16 | Development Opportunity Area: The area of mostly existing properties bounded by Hill Street, Margaret Street, the north bank of the River Tame and Cavendish Street, centred around Portland Basin, Cavendish Mill and the Ashton Canal and lying within the recently designated Portland Basin Conservation Area.
The presence of the canal junction, waterside setting and historic buildings provides potential for a variety of uses including residential, leisure, arts and culture, offices, commercial and light industrial, but with retail performing no more than a relatively small scale supporting role. Potential may also exist on the Dukinfield side of the River Tame for marina development. |
ATC16. This is the wider area in the south west part of the town centre, which is also referred to in connection with proposal ATC20 for enhancements to the approaches to Portland Basin. Existing uses are mostly industrial and are contained in properties of various ages but which include certain older buildings of striking appearance, notably Cavendish Mill (which is a grade II listed building) and Junction Mill.
The canal and adjacent riverside features are of great interest and provide the setting for a popular annual waterways festival, but apart from the heritage centre their surroundings are mostly in poor condition. The Council intends to pursue a regeneration strategy within this Conservation Area which could be spearheaded by schemes to convert and renovate key buildings for a wide variety of uses. Discussions have taken place on a number of possibilities but no firm schemes had been drawn up at the time of preparing this Plan for deposit. However, in December 1992 the Council was minded to approve a planning application to convert Cavendish Mill to 171 flats, to restore the Portland Basin warehouse for use as a museum, public house, restaurant and 54 flats, to demolish Bank House and to refurbish no. 85 Cavendish Street to form 6 flats. A Section 106 Agreement was signed in July 1993 and the conversion scheme at Cavendish Mill has since been carried out. Development in this area must satisfy the requirements of policy G6a for traffic impact assessment. |
| ATC18 | Development Opportunity Area: The largely vacant, canalside sites at Lower Wharf Street/ Ashton Old Wharf and Whitelands /Whitelands Road. There is potential here for mixed leisure and commercial uses incorporating access to the canal. | ATC18. These two small sites are located each side of a busy traffic route at the south eastern corner of the town centre, alongside the canal which has recently been restored for navigation towards Stalybridge and which is intended in time to be reopened through to Huddersfield. Planning permission was granted in September 1993 for the development of a canal visitor centre, workshop, car/trailer parking, slipway and other canalside facilities on the eastern side of Whitelands. |
| ATC20 | Improvements and enhancements to the setting and approaches to Portland Basin.
To include the cobbled forecourt at Portland Place, the grassed area on the north side of Portland Place, the adjacent roads and footpaths, and particularly the access off Cavendish Street opposite Cavendish Mill. |
ATC20. Portland Basin, in the south west corner of the town centre, is a focal point on the canal network and the core of a recently designated Conservation Area. It contains a heritage centre established by the Council a few years ago, as well as various opportunities for further leisure related and other commercial developments (see Proposal ATC16). However, the area is hidden away from main traffic and pedestrian routes and its immediate (non-water) setting and approaches are uninspiring. This proposal seeks both to upgrade the surroundings of Portland Basin and to achieve more conspicuous and attractive integration into the town centre, in order to encourage both visitors and investment to the area. |
| ATC21 | Upgrading of the approach, frontage and passenger facilities at Ashton Charlestown Station.
To include building, paving and signing improvements, modification of car parking arrangements and improved pedestrian crossing of Wellington Road. |
ATC21. A regular, all day, local train service was introduced at Ashton Charlestown Station from May 1990, supplementing the peak time services, and this line now appears to have a fairly secure future. However, the station presents a drab appearance to the street and is in need of various improvements to raise its profile as part of the public transport facilities available in the centre and to encourage further usage. Measures are also needed to ensure convenient linkage to the nearby bus station, especially once the road proposal ATC3 is carried out. No details have yet been drawn up for such an improvement scheme, which will depend on financial resources available to the Passenger Transport Executive and the relative priorities of competing schemes. |
| ATC22 | Re-design and enhancement of Henry Square, including sections of Old Street, Stamford Street West, Welbeck Street South and Portland Street South.
This is to improve the setting of a renovated Hugh Mason House and the proposed new Courts development, to facilitate through traffic movement and to assist with local parking. |
ATC22. The recently re-designed Chester Square intersection now enables east-bound traffic to pass through Henry Square and Old Street again, and the accessibility of this western area of the centre should also be improved through measures proposed as part of ATC4. A remodelled Henry Square is also important for the proposed conversions of Hugh Mason House (a grade II listed building and the former swimming baths) on the southern side, for leisure or commercial use, and for the proposed new Courts complex on the northern side. More generally it will act as a stimulus for other redevelopment or refurbishment schemes in the surrounding area. Availability of convenient parking space is considered to be one of the prerequisites for regeneration in this area, and some progress has already been made by laying out vacant land to the east of Henry Square for this purpose. |
| ASH14 | Railway corridor improvement - see Ashton (excl. town centre) chapter. |