A FORMER police station that has become a blight on a town’s landscape may be transformed if plans are given the go ahead – and it may grow by another storey.The building in Stalybridge has become a bone of contention for people living nearby and councillors after being left empty.
It has been left for so long, the Corporation Street building even became the subject of an ‘exploring’ video which showed the cells still in place.
Now owner John Kerrison hopes to turn the ramshackle building into 18 apartments and an office, with the latest stage being an application to Tameside Council to add an extra storey.
According to documents, Mr Kerrison, of Tamewater Developments and based at Fir Tree Farm, Lees Road, Mossley, said: “Amendments are required due to the structure of the existing building, which must remain, and to improve the appearance of the finished building.”
The application is to add a third tier to the building, which would contain two two-bedroomed flats.
And the cells in the basement, which are believed to be a big reason why nothing has been done to the property, would be converted into secure storage units, one for each property.
Stalybridge police station has laid empty since 2005 and one plan to turn it into 18 apartments in 2014 by developer IDG Properties was believed to have fallen by the wayside.
However, the latest documents are in fact alterations to that application, which was permitted – with the addition of a new storey key to actually getting them done.
The Correspondent revealed last year that Tameside Council is ready to act by serving notice on its owner in a bid to finally get work done on it.
Months after being told to re-secure the premises or face a pedestrian being hit by a panel of wood that was placed over windows, patience finally appears to have run out.
It has also featured in an online ‘exploring’ video, which revealed the shells of former offices, broken windows, wires hanging from the ceiling and a small yard where prisoners could walk around.
Several of the cell doors remain locked shut.
Any development of the building may boost hopes of a revamp of Stalybridge’s market hall, which lies just yards away.
And Stalybridge South councillor Liam Billington said: “It is in a great location to be turned into a nice set of apartments, particularly with the river nearby.”