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New life set for old Radcliffe Pool and Fitness Centre site
Bury councillors have been recommended to approve Watson Homes and Great Places Housing Group’s plans for 132 apartments, a pub, and offices.
The decision regarding the Green Street site’s future will ultimately be made at Bury Council’s planning committee meeting on 27 June.
If Watson and Great Places are successful, Radcliffe will receive 97 flats available for shared ownership or affordable rent. The remaining 35 apartments will be designated as market rent.
Of the 132 one- and two-bedroom flats proposed, 97 would reside in a purely residential building of up to six storeys in height. This resi building would sit by the site’s northern boundary and would comprise two blocks with separate entrances.
The remaining 35 would be in a second, mixed-use building of up to six storeys. This building would contain the pub and two commercial units on its ground floor, offices on the first and second floors, and flats on the floors above.
In total, there is 13,000 sq ft of commercial space proposed. That includes a new home office for Watson, which currently is based in Salford.
All of this would be constructed on brownfield land that sits between Green Street, Pilkington Way, and Blackburn Street in Radcliffe’s town centre. The site held the Radcliffe Pool and Fitness Centre until 2016, when the building was demolished. More recently, it has been a car park and a Covid testing centre.
Cars would be able to access the two buildings via Green Street. There would be 57 car parking spaces and five disabled for the mixed-use building, while the residential complex would have access to 43 car parking spaces and three disabled.
Bury planning officers praised the project in their notes, writing “The proposed development would deliver the regeneration of a much-needed, longstanding vacant town centre site with a strong architectural response in scale and design.
“The proposed development is in a highly sustainable location and would deliver new housing and business without harm to listed buildings, residential amenity, or site constraints.”
TADW Architects designed the scheme for Watson and Great Places, as well as submitted the planning application. The project team also includes structural and civil engineer Elluc, landscape designer Enzygo, and traffic and highways consultant SCP.
Omnia is the air quality consultant and Braiden Acoustics is handling noise. LK Group is in charge of contaminated land strategies and Murray Consulting is heading up the arboricultural side of things. TWC is the BREEAM consultant, Tyrer Ecological the biodiversity and ecology expert, and JWC Conservation the listed building assessor.
Square CGI is the creator of the project’s visuals.
To learn more about the scheme, search 68998 on Bury Council’s planning portal.
