A DEVELOPER has received £330,000 of Government cash to help redevelop the disused and derelict former Stalybridge Police Station.
Owner John Kerrison is to get the handout from a £400 million fund to help develop the brownfield land which has been described as the town’s ‘biggest eyesore’ by Councillor Doreen Dickinson.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has been given £81m from the pot that money for the Stalybridge development has been allocated.
Cllr Dickinson believes the site will be costly to redevelop as it will entail dismantling the cells as Stalybridge was a holding station for Strangeways.
She said: “The cells were bomb proof and will be expensive to demolish. I think that may be something to do with why the building has never been developed.
“The people who bought it realised there was a problem and gave up.”
The former police station on Corporation Street has laid empty since 2005.
However, a new plan to convert the building into flats, adding two more floors on top of the existing structure was unanimously approved last year by Tameside Council.
There had previously been one plan to turn it into 18 apartments in 2014 by developer IDG Properties was.
*All photos taken by Gemma Carter
Although no longer a resident of Stalybridge, I am surprised to read that more flats have been approved for the town. There seem to be plenty of those already. A lovely hotel with dining terrace would be a much better idea in my humble opinion. We’ve always had trouble finding overnight accommodation when arranging family gatherings.
Scandalous !