en.Wedoany.com Reported - A development plan for a 3.8-acre industrial site in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, UK, has been abandoned in favor of a residential scheme comprising 75 apartments. Applicant BMC Rochdale has submitted a planning application to Rochdale Borough Council for a new five-story apartment building on the site, featuring 38 one-bedroom and 37 two-bedroom apartments. The site is located on the north side of Royle Road, adjacent to the recently completed Calico Grove development by Countryside.
BMC Rochdale is a real estate development company registered in the UK, with its sole director listed as Melissa Bell. This residential proposal replaces a previous industrial development permission for the site—in 2021, Stechrioco obtained planning consent for a 33,000-square-foot industrial project on the same plot. This planning change reflects the intensifying competition for land use on the urban fringe of UK cities and highlights the squeeze effect of residential demand on industrial land.
According to planning documents, the site is located on an engineered high platform and is currently vacant. The submitted application, reference number PL/2026/0421, is available for detailed review on the Rochdale Borough Council planning portal. Zerum serves as the planning consultant for this project, with BTP Architects handling the architectural design. Zerum is a Manchester-based town planning and development consultancy with extensive project experience in Northwest England; BTP Architects is a UK architectural firm specializing in residential and commercial building design.
The site is adjacent to an established residential community and benefits from relatively comprehensive infrastructure facilities. If the new scheme is approved, it will further boost the housing supply in Rochdale. In recent years, the growing housing demand in Greater Manchester, where Rochdale is located, has driven the conversion of some industrial land on the urban fringe to residential use, a trend that is reshaping the region's land use pattern.
