£1.75 million boost for Rochdales’s economy

More than £ 1.75million of regeneration funding will be invested by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and its partners into a community woodland for Rochdale, it has been announced.

Investment in the Belfield Project will bring a new lease of life to 28 hectares of brownfield land which lies to the east of Rochdale town centre, sandwiched between the River Roch and Rochdale Canal. These fragmented areas, known locally as Clover Hall, Mayfield, Newbold and Newbold Brow, form a green space corridor from local residential neighbourhoods to the edge of Rochdale town centre.

Work on the Belfield Project is part of Newlands; a £23million, NWDA-funded land regeneration scheme, which is rejuvenating 435 hectares of the region’s damaged land to encourage economic growth and simultaneously creating new opportunities for leisure and recreation. Newlands is a partnership scheme of NWDA and the Forestry Commission.

Newlands at Belfield will bring a much-needed boost to the area, enhancing land that presently adds little of value to the surrounding community. As well as helping to attract new businesses to the locality, the investment in new greenspace will support the local Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder and could help to increase local house prices. Partners in the Belfield Project also hope it will help to strengthen links to the new Kingsway Business Park development also being funded by the NWDA.

As part of the consultation for the Belfield Project, Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale has been working with residents and primary schools in the surrounding area to explore what they would like to see on the land. Many of their ideas have been incorporated into the project. They include a community park with modern play equipment, a football pitch, fishing lodge, outdoor classroom, a wetland area, cycle paths, bridleways and riverside walks. Gateway features - which could include eye-catching works of public art - are also planned to highlight the project.

A network of pathways will connect the areas to each other while also providing a green link between Kingsway Business Park and Rochdale town centre. Belfield will also be Rochdale’s central hub for cycling with links to National Cycle Routes 92 and 66, bringing access to a range of cycling opportunities in Rochdale and beyond.

Regeneration proposals for the adjacent neighbourhoods will use the Belfield project and the wider Roch Valley as a positive asset connecting people with a healthier lifestyle and a more pleasant environment. Pennine Edge Forest is working with local partners to promote these opportunities as a way of creating key gateways and routes into the river valley through its Natural Signposting project.

The NWDA is also providing resources to keep the area maintained for the next 15 years, the Forestry Commission will manage the woodlands it creates through the project for a further 79 years making a secure period of nearly 100 years of management for the areas’ greenspace. To support this work, additional funding from Biffaward and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has been secured for the Belfield Project. The Forestry Commission will also work closely with the local community to provide opportunities for local people to be involved in managing the greenspace, helping to develop local skills and ownership.

Belfield is one of six Newlands 1 projects being developed in the Northwest. Each project was carefully chosen from the Northwest’s derelict, underused or neglected (DUN) land which were then assessed using a Public Benefit Recording System (PBRS), a tool which identifies the areas that would bring the most benefits through regeneration investment.

Peter White, NWDA Executive Director of Infrastructure and Development, said: “The NWDA is pleased to help transform 28 hectares of derelict and underused land into thriving, community woodlands. A range of high quality leisure facilities will significantly enhance the quality of life in Rochdale, creating a valuable environmental resource for local residents and visitors.”

Chairman of the Forestry Commission, Lord Clark, said: "This ambitious project will make a real difference: from the local family wanting some clean, safe open spaces for their children to play; to communities brought together to discuss, plan and deliver the right site; and to local businesses.

“It will provide attractive and exciting places to live and work, to invest and take root.

“This site will be a showcase for Newlands and will demonstrate to the rest of the country what the Northwest has to offer.”