{"id":604014,"date":"2025-11-30T20:48:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T20:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/604014\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T20:48:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T20:48:31","slug":"the-quaint-greater-manchester-town-with-one-big-problem-thats-about-to-get-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/604014\/","title":{"rendered":"The quaint Greater Manchester town with one big problem that’s ‘about to get worse’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of new homes will be built in a town already on the brink of capacity<\/p>\n

17:55, 28 Nov 2025Updated 17:43, 30 Nov 2025<\/p>\n

\"SignSign welcoming people into Littleborough(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

On the edge of Greater Manchester sits the small town of Littleborough<\/a>, which boasts picturesque countryside, stunning views and a beautiful lake.<\/p>\n

Given you can jump on a train and be in Manchester city centre<\/a> in 20 minutes, the Rochdalian town offers rural living with the joy of a quick commute. But Littleborough\u2019s major drawback becomes apparent when you try to drive out during rush hour.<\/p>\n

Being bumper to bumper in snaking traffic is not a worry for locals during peak times, it\u2019s an expectation.<\/p>\n

So when plans for hundreds more homes on former green belt land were touted five years ago, residents were up in arms. Half a decade later the proposal for 309 homes just off Hollingworth Road, a notorious traffic hotspot, has now been approved.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t blame developer Bloor Homes for wanting to invest in the town, given its many positive attributes, but locals have had enough. Littleborough Lakeside councillor Richard Jackson described the approved plans as \u2018profit over people\u2019 and \u2018milking the Littleborough cash cow\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"LandLand off Hollingworth Road primed for housing(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

Speaking in opposition to the plans at the Rochdale council planning committee meeting this week, he explained how people regularly describe Littleborough as follows: \u2018lovely place, but wouldn\u2019t want to live there with all the traffic\u2019.<\/p>\n

Coun Jackson and his fellow ward councillors Tom Besford and Janet Emsley have been fervently against this since the beginning. They all voted against the Greater Manchester-wide Places for Everyone (PfE) plan last year, which took the parcel of land out of the green belt allocation – losing its protected status.<\/p>\n

The Manchester Evening News<\/a> went down to the bank of Hollingworth Lake in Littleborough, just opposite where the new homes are planned, to get an understanding of people\u2019s views. Coun Jackson was poignantly accurate with his statement.<\/p>\n

Ann and Andrew Bowker were taking their pet pooch Rocco for a lakeside stroll when they stopped to chat about housing.<\/p>\n

\"AnnAnn and Andrew Bowker, with dog Rocco(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is only one road in and one road out,\u201d Andrew explained, looking over the Lane Bank stretch of road. \u201cThe traffic is bad enough now and this will build things up even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of roadworks come on these roads and it jams up continuously. There is already a housing estate being built, and okay they\u2019re nice, but you\u2019re going to have one hell of an estate when they come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Littleborough, it’s a beautiful place and I know they want to build houses, but my answer is no to these new homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was another road, then okay maybe, but they\u2019re not planning another road currently, so it\u2019s just stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Bowker added: \u201cWe\u2019re lacking school places and it\u2019s difficult to get doctors appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what people say, the powers that be tend to override them. I feel we don\u2019t get a say, we\u2019re at the mercy of developers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one they\u2019re building currently at the old chemical works, people complained about that but they got it over the line in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have family here we\u2019d probably move away because of the traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HollingworthHollingworth Lake, Littleborough(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

The bulk of concerns raised by over 1,000 local residents in opposition to the latest plans include the worsening of congested roads at capacity; too many homes already in the town; exacerbated traffic pollution; and local health infrastructure on the brink of capacity.<\/p>\n

The major point of contention is clearly the traffic problem. Rich Oddy was walking Toby the black Labrador back from their regular jaunt in the country park when he made his case.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old said: \u201cLittleborough and the surrounding area have constant roadworks going on and the traffic is just murder. You\u2019ve got Lake Bank road and Halifax Road coming from the other side, it is just murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully I don\u2019t have to drive up this way too much myself but I\u2019ve walked past it backed up so far. I live in Milnrow<\/a> and sometimes it\u2019s just as bad there, but it gets really bad here for traffic.<\/p>\n

\"RichRich Oddy, 50, with Toby the black Lab(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cWill a few hundred more houses make a difference? It will probably will make it busier, but it\u2019s bad anyway. I\u2019m not sure where another relief road can go.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult because we need more homes. So it\u2019s about where you put them and how you put the infrastructure around it to accommodate the extra footfall.\u201d<\/p>\n

A relief road for the A58 has long been touted for the traffic blighted town, with developers even making a financial contribution of \u00a3970,000 that would go towards the development of this. However, there are still no concrete plans to actually build the road that locals have been waiting two decades for.<\/p>\n

More houses are not seen as the enemy by most in the town. Pensioner Stephen, who has been in the area for most of his life, wants to see better road infrastructure to support new homes and the massive amounts of traffic the town gets in summer.<\/p>\n

\"HollingworthHollingworth Lake, Littleborough(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

Thousands of people descend on the country park and Hollingworth Lake in the warmer months, which Stephen fears could die down if traffic becomes too problematic.<\/p>\n

The 68-year-old added: \u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with the houses, but the road into Littleborough is horrendous, we need better infrastructure first.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get trapped in Littleborough if you travel at peak times. In summer you see all the cars queued up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not nice to see because this is a nice place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CGICGI of Bloor Homes 309-home housing development next to Hollingworth Lake in Littleborough(Image: Bloor Homes)<\/p>\n

A new primary school and an extended Hollingworth Road Car Park are also part of the mammoth scheme in the beloved part of the Rochdale borough. Alongside this, a new park and a tree-lined \u2018green corridor\u2019 linking Rochdale Canal to Hollingworth Lake with a circular footpath network are also planned by Bloor Homes.<\/p>\n

The developer\u2019s representative at the planning meeting on November 27, design and technical director Steve MacPherson, added that the \u00a31m allocated for the primary school could be used for another car park extension, if the new school is not needed by the council.<\/p>\n

Coun Jackson has described the ‘unnecessary’ primary school plans as \u2018absurd\u2019, saying these new homes would actually bring increased secondary school students. This brings a different problem because secondary school places are currently oversubscribed, he told the committee.<\/p>\n

He pointed out the irony in plans to build an unneeded primary school on a car park, then using green belt land off Rakewood Road to build a bigger car park.<\/p>\n

\"HollingworthHollingworth Road Car Park in Littleborough(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

The primary school proposal has only gained outline permission, but it would be up to the council to decide whether the education facility would actually be built. There have been questions raised over whether the new school is actually needed, with the Pennines Township committee saying that plan is based on out-of-date information from over 15 years ago.<\/p>\n

Speaking just before plans were approved, James Clark, managing director for Bloor Homes said: \u201cBloor Homes would like to extend sincere gratitude to the community, council officers, and consultees who have helped shape our final plans for this exciting new development.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir feedback has been instrumental in developing a scheme that will both contribute essential new housing to assist Rochdale\u2019s housing needs, whilst also bringing benefits to the local community through financial support for new secondary education provision, improvements to local highways, and investment in local green spaces.<\/p>\n

\"CGICGI of Bloor Homes 309-home housing development next to Hollingworth Lake in Littleborough(Image: Bloor Homes)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased to introduce Littleborough\u2019s first four-bedroom affordable homes, as part of the 47 affordable homes planned for the site. This initiative directly addresses the needs and feedback expressed by local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cRochdale Borough Council\u2019s planning officers recommendation for approval reflects Bloor Homes\u2019 dedication to quality, place making, and long-term benefit for Littleborough and Rochdale. It exemplifies how responsible development can strengthen communities, deliver high quality design and enhance the surrounding environment in a sympathetic manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very much looking forward to delivering this development, which will undoubtedly be a flagship scheme for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of new homes will be built in a town already on the brink of capacity 17:55, 28…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,728,4884,83298,2465,285,1170,1171,16,15,185318],"class_list":{"0":"post-604014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-littleborough","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-rochdale","16":"tag-rochdale-council","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unmissable"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115640622061508807","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604014","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=604014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}