Plans to transform MAN Diesel’s Hazel Grove site approved
GERMAN-owned engine manufacturer MAN Diesel has gained outline planning consent to build 40,000 sq ft of small business units and 203 houses on its seven hectare site in Hazel Grove.
The approval means that the firm can now begin the second phase of what has been a lengthy project to redevelop the site.
The company’s managing director, Wayne Jones, told TheBusinessDesk.com it has brought forward the scheme itself with the help of consultants Knight Frank to ensure that it retained control of the process.
Jones, who heads the Stockport Economic Alliance, said that it had worked closely with the local council to ensure that its scheme will deliver the right type of commercial and residential units for the area.
“The site lends itself to this mix. On one side is housing and a passenger train line and on the other there is commercial space and a freight line.”
The commercial units will be “move-on” units for smaller firms of up to ten employees which will complement incubation space at Broadstone Mill.
He added that the firm would soon look to appoint a developer partner to bring the scheme forwards and may split the scheme between a housebuilder and a commercial developer.
The initial phase of the site’s redevelopment completed in January last year when the company built a new 20,000 sq ft headquarters building and 90,000 sq ft of warehouse and training academy space.
The remaining six hectares had contained 28,000 sq ft of buildings which were marketed for use as general business and warehousing space for three years, but the company said that they would have taken “a significant amount of work” to bring them up to modern standards, and that the only non-commercial use which attracted any interest was in building retail units on the site.
The firm has also pledged not to redevelop other nearby land in its possession, including a former golf course now designated as Strategic Open Space with public rights of way running through it.
As a result, the local MirrLees Fields Action Group did not oppose the company’s application but it did raise concerns about the density of the development, the impact of development traffic and other issues.
Some 44 local residents did object to the scheme, however, citing concerns including the impact of extra traffic, the lack of public transport links, and a lack of need for either extra employment units or housing in the area.
