{"id":566631,"date":"2025-11-13T01:39:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T01:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/566631\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T01:39:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T01:39:27","slug":"andy-burnhams-major-scheme-bringing-20000-jobs-to-greater-manchester-finally-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/566631\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham’s major scheme bringing 20,000 jobs to Greater Manchester finally begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The project is the first in a long line of benefits coming to the north of the city-region\"GreaterGreater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham at Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale where ground was broken on new Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

A major project that will bring 20,000 jobs, employment space and new homes over a \u2018decade of growth\u2019 has finally started.<\/p>\n

Spades were officially put in the ground for the new Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) at a ceremony led by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham<\/a> today (November 12).<\/p>\n

The research hub, just off the M62<\/a>, is expected to become a catalyst for growth in advanced manufacturing, machinery, materials, and scientific research.<\/p>\n

To see planning applications; traffic and road diversions and layout changes; and more, visit the Public Notices Portal HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Designed as part of a wider innovation ecosystem, the centre will play a key role in establishing Atom Valley as a world-class hub for advanced materials and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

Speaking to a crowd at the ground breaking of the facility at Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale<\/a>, Mr Burnham said: \u201cThis is a major milestone on our journey to be a world-leading city-region in every respect. I think in the future, we will remember being gathered here in the rain on a bleak looking day, hopeful of what today symbolises.<\/p>\n

\"CGICGI of how the new Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) in Rochdale could look(Image: GMCA)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge statement about how Rochdale has changed. I arrived on this building site and I saw a bowl of rocket and guacamole, if that doesn\u2019t tell you Rochdale is changing, nothing else will.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had 10 years of devolution in Greater Manchester. In that time we\u2019ve achieved something others thought we wouldn\u2019t, we\u2019ve become the fastest growing city-region in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve not seen enough change in Rochdale, Oldham<\/a>, Bury<\/a>, Wigan<\/a> and Leigh \u2013 that\u2019s why this is significant. Because the next decade of growth in GM is going to be a decade of good growth, where we lift every person and every place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ground-breakingGround-breaking ceremony for the first major new development of Atom Valley , Kingsway Business Park , Rochdale(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham pointed to the tram stop already in place at the site, hoping new workers here would mainly commute via public transport. But the Labour<\/a> politician admitted rail and road congestion needed to be sorted locally to support the future of the Atom Valley scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t be here and ignore the congestion on the M60<\/a> and M62,\u201d Mr Burnham added. \u201cThe congestion is a drag on productivity and it\u2019s too hard to get across the country in that part and around the city-region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Simister Island (junction 18) investment is good, but going into the budget my message to the government is that you can\u2019t take GM\u2019s growth for granted. We\u2019ve got growth but to keep ahead of that you have to put in the infrastructure to support further growth.<\/p>\n

\"Ground-breakingGround-breaking ceremony for the first major new development of Atom Valley , Kingsway Business Park(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still waiting to hear about the big infrastructure to support our railways. I don\u2019t think we can carry on with the M60 as it is, because it\u2019s overly congested all the way around.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a plan for road and rail to support the level of ambition that is Atom Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SMMC will offer 30,000 sq ft of new laboratory space, workshops and design studios, as well as a lecture theatre, meeting rooms, office space, and flexible workspace for start-ups.<\/p>\n

\"Ground-breakingVacant land where new development is copming to Atom Valley, Kingsway Business Park(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Spreading across parts of Rochdale, Oldham, and Bury, Atom Valley is a key part of the North East Growth Corridor \u2013 one of Greater Manchester\u2019s six Growth Locations.<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News <\/strong>WhatsApp<\/strong> group <\/strong>HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

These are nationally significant, shovel-ready sites with land earmarked for delivery, and each building on each area\u2019s strengths to spread the benefits of growth around the city-region\u2019s 10 boroughs.<\/p>\n

Coun Neil Emmott, council leader in Rochdale, said: \u201cThis is an area of the north west where we really suffered from the decline of industry and we\u2019ve never really replaced that. It\u2019s often been quite low-skilled and low paid jobs. It\u2019s all been done piecemeal over the last few decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a genuine attempt to bring good manufacturing jobs to Rochdale. There always used to be good jobs for people to come into here, but that disappeared from the 1960s onwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur prosperity in the past was built on the textile industry, but that was only the driver of it. Because you had the other industries connected to it like engineering, like shuttlemaking that supported that textile industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to seriously readdress that and bring in decent, skilled manufacturing back to Rochdale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proposed Rochdale Advanced Manufacturing and Productivity Institute, part of Atom Valley(Image: Rochdale Development Agency)<\/p>\n

Paul Waugh, MP for Rochdale, added: \u201cI\u2019m delighted that the Government has provided \u00a315m in funding for this fabulous project. I know Andy Burnham is committed to spreading wealth across the whole of Greater Manchester, beyond the booming Manchester city centre<\/a> to areas like Rochdale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking in partnership with the Government, the Mayor, Rochdale Development Agency, Hopwood Hall, the University of Manchester<\/a> – and crucially local businesses – we can make Rochdale once again a key part of our country\u2019s advanced manufacturing future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all about giving Rochdale youngsters real opportunities in apprenticeships and skilled jobs. It\u2019s also about building an Atom Valley manufacturing zone that offers more space and better value for money than the Oxford-Cambridge-London tech triangle that has dominated the UK for too long.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The project is the first in a long line of benefits coming to the north of the city-regionGreater…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,1285,393,4884,11564,104653,2465,1286,285,1170,1171,1263,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-566631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-bury","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-greater-manchester-combined-authority","13":"tag-greater-manchester-mayor","14":"tag-manchester","15":"tag-oldham","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-rochdale","18":"tag-rochdale-council","19":"tag-transport","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115539841809190251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}