(a) The site as a whole to be laid out in a co-ordinated manner, in accordance with a master plan, which should be drawn up on the basis of a design brief to be published by the Council as supplementary planning guidance.  Detailed proposals should include clear phasing provisions, particularly in relation to golf course redesign, ecological mitigation, structural landscaping works and site access. 

(b) The business park uses to be limited to Class B1 (offices, research and development, and light industry), a hotel, and small-scale leisure and retail facilities serving the needs of users of the business park.

(c) The business park to be located along the eastern side of the site, as shown generally on the Proposals Map, so as to retain a substantial margin of open land along the length of Gorton Upper Reservoir and to minimise the extent of disruption to land currently occupied by Denton Golf Course.

(d) A high quality of layout, design, external materials and landscaping to be provided in the business park, which should be a predominantly low rise and low density development. Car parking areas in particular should be well screened by landscaping or buildings.

(e) Vehicular access to the business park to be solely or primarily from the southern end of the site, in the vicinity of the M66/M67/A57 intersection or its approaches.  No through movement of heavy good vehicles from Manchester Road to Audenshaw Road should be possible.

(f) Enhanced access for business park users to bus services to be provided from within the scheme, including investigation of the feasibility of a bus-only link between the business park and Audenshaw Road.

(g) Housing development to be limited to approximately 7 hectares of land in the north-eastern part of the overall site, as shown generally on the Proposals Map, with access from Audenshaw Road.  The development should include affordable housing to meet local needs, and provide for additions or improvements to educational facilities off-site if required as a result of the scheme.

(h) An 18 hole golf course (and club house) of at least equivalent quality to the existing Denton Golf Course to be retained / re-created on around 45 hectares of the western part of the site, as shown generally on the Proposals Map.

(i) Dedicated areas of landscaped public open space to be provided on around 12 hectares of land along the western and northern edges of the site, as shown generally on the Proposals Map.  The existing pedestrian, cycling and horse riding spine from Debdale Park to Audenshaw Road and Booth Road should be retained and enhanced, including creation of a second, more direct connection to Manchester Road in the vicinity of Hulme Road, and incorporated into the public open space areas where practical.

(j) Existing trees, bushes, ponds, walls and other existing landscape and archaeological features within the site to be retained wherever possible, incorporated within the scheme where practical, and enhanced by sensitive further landscaping measures. A structural landscaping programme should be drawn up as part of the master plan, and one objective of this should be to soften the impact of the business park as seen from the Kings Road spine, and as far as possible to maintain a countryside character in that area.  The frontage of the business park and any associated highway works should present an acceptable outlook for the occupiers of dwellings on Manchester Road.

(k) The development to incorporate measures to protect the habitats of the most important species of flora and fauna on the site, and to mitigate or compensate for unavoidable adverse effects.  Particular attention should be given to the single population of great crested newts and to the value of the area for pond dependent invertebrates.

Planning permission will not be granted until and unless an agreed traffic impact assessment has been produced, which shows to the satisfaction of the relevant highway authorities that the proposed highway works can cater for forecast traffic.

The developer(s) of the site will be expected to enter into a planning agreement, to ensure that the scheme is implemented in accordance with the principles outlined in this policy and that any necessary measures stipulated here, or in the subsequent design brief, or determined as part of a master plan, are carried out at the appropriate time within the development programme.

The site contains groups of mature trees and bushes and also a number of small ponds which are of particular ecological interest.  Four relatively small areas within the site are designated as Grade B Sites of Biological Importance. The line of the proposed M66 motorway extension forms the immediate eastern edge of the site and that scheme will be responsible for taking a section of the existing Denton golf course.  The several residential properties on Corn Hill Lane, although falling within the overall site boundary, would not be affected directly by proposal DEN1.

This is one of the best located strategic employment sites in the eastern part of the conurbation, and has been identified within the Greater Manchester Strategic Sites Study carried out jointly by the ten local authorities in the county area.  It adjoins the junction of the M66 Manchester Outer Ring Road, which is due to be completed by 1998, and a major east-west route (A57/M67) which links Manchester with South Yorkshire.  It is well located in relation to the regional centre and has quick motorway access to and from Manchester Airport. 

The size of the site is sufficient to enable a major business park to be created, including a hotel / conference centre and other on-site services to meet the needs of employees and visitors.  But it is also large enough to allow for the retention / re-creation of an 18-hole golf course and the provision of new areas of public open space.  Up to 33 hectares of land, capable of accommodating up to about 93,000 sq. metres of floor space, should be available for the business park after meeting the principles outlined in the policy.  The site also has an attractive, mature environment and an outlook over golf course and water areas. 

This combination of factors should help to attract businesses into Tameside which might otherwise be unlikely to consider locating in this area.  Availability of a site of this nature should help to stem the substantial and continued loss of jobs in the area over recent years, and diversify the local employment base. The proposal for a major, high amenity business park offers some of the best prospects for attracting large numbers of valuable new jobs into the Tameside and east Manchester area.

An outline planning application was submitted in August 1990 by the owners of the Audenshaw Estate, for the development of a business park, hotel, housing and golf course on the overall site.  This so called Kingswater Park proposal was subsequently called in by the Secretary of State and was to have been the subject of a public inquiry in September 1991. However, the application was withdrawn prior to the inquiry.

The allocation of this site in the UDP deals with the general principle of land uses in the area, and is not accompanied by a specific development scheme which might form the basis of a new application for planning permission. Whilst it is likely that major highway improvements will be needed to accommodate the significant extra traffic generated by a development of this size, the nature of any necessary highway works cannot therefore be determined as part of the UDP process.  They must, however, form an essential component of any scheme which is subsequently submitted for planning permission, whereupon a thorough traffic impact assessment (TIA) will need to be produced, to the extent specified by the relevant highway authorities (i.e. the Department of Transport for trunk roads and Tameside MBC for local roads).  The TIA is required in order to identify whether or not the proposal is feasible in traffic terms, and to ascertain the necessity and scope for acceptable highway improvement works to protect the safety and efficiency of the trunk and local road networks.

Only one golf course can be retained / re-created within the site, and for a number of reasons this should most appropriately be based on the Denton Golf Club.  However, the UDP allocates a substantial area of land off Windmill Lane, Denton for a new golf course (see proposal DEN14), which if taken up (planning permission has already been granted in outline) would ensure that golf facilities in this part of Tameside are not diminished as a result of the DEN1 proposal, and would most probably be enhanced.  The DEN14 site may provide the opportunity for Fairfield Golf and Sailing Club to relocate from their present course. The Council would wish to see this happen and might consider appropriate forms of assistance if required.

Outline planning permission was granted in May 1994 for the erection on this site of a car showroom, light and general industrial units, hotel, public house and restaurant.  Development of this site must satisfy the requirements of policy G6a for traffic impact assessment.

For the purposes of this and other proposals which allocate sites for development for employment uses, the term "employment" is defined in the justification to policy E1.  Development of this site must satisfy the requirements of the policy G6a for traffic impact assessment.

This has potential for redevelopment and refurbishment for office, industrial, leisure and warehouse uses, taking advantage of the location close to the intersection of the M66, M67 and A57.

Natural features of the site to be retained and incorporated wherever possible.

A golf course is an acceptable use within the Green Belt and it will be possible to retain most of the existing features which contribute to the interest of the area and to introduce some further planting. Outline planning permission for the construction of an 18 hole golf course, clubhouse and car park on the site was granted in August 1991, but with the details of layout and various other matters to be approved later. However, it was determined that access to the new course would only be taken from Windmill Lane near to the railway bridge and that the land on the eastern side of the M66 would be used only for practice purposes by members, with no vehicular access from Ross Lave Lane. This outline permission was renewed in October 1994. 

Ross Lave Lane, and the Tame Valley / Reddish Vale area to the south, are attractive and popular areas for informal recreation. However, the severing effect of the Stockport to Guide Bridge railway, and the absence of any existing public footpath through the body of the DEN14 site, inhibits the wider use of these areas by residents living in the Denton West built up area.  Improved access to the countryside to the south-east could provide Denton West residents with a valuable alternative to the Debdale/ Reservoirs area for informal recreation, and the DEN14 site is large enough for undue conflict with golfers to be avoided.  A new pathway through this area would also have value as part of longer distance recreational routes, which the Council wishes to promote throughout the Borough (see policy L17).  The Council will therefore negotiate for the incorporation of a public access route linking Windmill Lane with Ross Lave Lane, when detail proposals are drawn up and submitted for the laying out of the golf course.

Due to the contamination, the site is not suitable for development, but it can potentially perform a valuable role for recreational activities and as a green corridor extending into the open countryside. When practical, a landscaping scheme incorporating recognisable footpaths would open up the site for informal recreation and improve its rather bleak appearance.

This area has potential for redevelopment or refurbishment for retail, leisure, commercial or employment uses, or some combination of these, with the advantage of proximity to the established shopping centre and the scope for additional town centre car parking to be created.

Although it is considered that the existing employment and commercial uses are suitable for this area, the prominent location near the heart of the town centre would make the area equally suitable for retail and leisure uses.  Such developments could help to consolidate Denton town centre's role as a focus for the shopping, commercial, entertainment and leisure needs of the town's residents (see policy S1).  They could also provide an opportunity to create a higher quality environment, and provide shoppers' car parking on a larger scale than is possible in the rest of this tightly built-up centre.  Development in this area must satisfy the requirements of  policy G6a for traffic impact assessment.