Rochdale Riverside set for major step forward

The huge Rochdale Riverside regeneration scheme, which features a new anchor Marks & Spencer (M&S) department store and a six-screen cinema, looks set to take a major step forward.A hybrid planning application by Genr8 (Rochdale) for the comprehensive phased regeneration of an area known as Rochdale Town Centre East is due to be considered by a special meeting of the council’s planning committee today (10 April 2017).Full planning consent is sought for phase one of the tp bennett-designed scheme, which comprises 194,827 sq ft of retail including an M&S department store, a Next store, 47,361 sq ft of food and drink space, a six-screen cinema, a gym, and a 344-space car park.And outline planning permission is requested for phase two, which could feature up to 100 apartments, a hotel with between 80 and 120 bedrooms, 32,292 sq ft of office space, flexible ground-floor space for a variety of retail or community uses, and up to 189 parking spaces.An economic and regeneration statement submitted alongside the application claims that phase one alone would create 744 to 1,030 full-time-equivalent jobs.The project has been developed in response to a perceived lack of diversity and choice for shopping, leisure and office users in the area.Genr8 (Rochdale) is a partnership of Genr8 Developments and funding partner Kajima Properties. In 2013, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Rochdale Development Agency entered into a development agreement with Genr8 as its preferred developer to bring forward a large part of the Rochdale Riverside regeneration scheme.Plans for the £60m Rochdale Riverside scheme were first submitted in November 2016.