ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE and Stalybridge are to become the national model for transport-led regeneration as part of a new strategy for the Greater Manchester area.
Plans for the next 10 years were announced by the region’s mayor, Andy Burnham, on Tuesday, July 9.
And Tameside is set to see one of its major developments as a new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) will be created covering the towns.
It will also focus on transport as the Bee Network is set to grow.
MDCs, which are statutory bodies, are designed to speed up development and attract investment within a specific area.
“Now here’s something that’s quite exciting,” Mr Burnham said at the launch. “You’ve probably heard me say, the Stalybridge to Manchester Victoria line will be one of the first to come into the Bee Network.
“From December 13, 2026, it will be in the Bee Network and what we’re agreeing with the Government is to make Ashton and Stalybridge the country’s first exemplars of transport-led regeneration.
“Where we have land around the train stations, where we can build new high quality residential in the middle of those places with that brand new integrated transport offer, linking tram, bus and train in one single system.
“Ashton and Stalybridge are going to lead the way on transport-led regeneration in the UK.”
Mayor Burnham’s announcement and strategy covers all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester but has a Tameside influence.
It is based on seven pillars – healthy homes for all, strong and safe communities, a transport system for a global city region, a clear line of sight to high quality jobs, everyday support in every neighbourhood, a great place to do business and digitally connected places and people.
In highlighting the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) Beeline tool, which helps give young people better access to real jobs and the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, Electina Fernando, a pupil at Dukinfield’s Rayner Stephens High School, was the example.
A woman from Mottram was used to show how the Live Well approach works after working with the Healthy Hyde team.
The Eastern Growth Cluster, which links development opportunities at Ashton Moss, St Petersfield and Ashton town centre, was singled out as a positive in terms of growth.
And Stalybridge’s year as Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture will be built on as the document states: “We’ll develop and celebrate the creative and cultural offerings of our diverse towns and high streets through our Town of Culture.”
Overall, plans are for there to be at least 10,000 new, energy efficient homes for social rent across all 10 local authority areas by 2030.
And by that date, they say everyone living in rented accommodation will have the right to request a property check under the Good Landlord Charter.
On transport, it is hoped 90 per cent of people in Greater Manchester will be within a five-minute walk of a bus or tram that comes at least every 30 minutes.
That will see eight more rail lines brought into the Bee Network and the document adds: “We will keep the cost of travel on the Bee Network as low as possible, so everyone can afford to get where they need to go.
“We’ll only charge what we need to run a safe and comfortable service and to reinvest in the Bee Network, so that it keeps improving.
“By 2030, all local rail lines will be integrated with the Bee Network, with Greater Manchester communities the first outside London to be served by fully joined-up bike, bus, tram and train travel.
“We will drive major improvements to stations, including making more of them fully accessible and introducing capped, tap-on tap-off fares.”
Making the spread of high-wage jobs more even is also a desire, as many complain about people heading out of Tameside to work.
That may represent a change in working as the document admits: “On average, there are more high-wage jobs in the southern part of Greater Manchester.
“Even our most affluent districts have pockets of deprivation and low economic activity and local people do not always benefit from high-quality jobs in their area due to skills gaps.
“We need to be more innovative and high growth. Although we are a centre for research and development, we are not delivering the scale of commercialisation we’d expect and are not yet providing the full range of commercial and industrial spaces to help businesses spin out and scale up here.
“Although our productivity is growing at a rate above the national average, it is still 35 per cent below that of London – a much bigger gap than we see in other European capitals and second cities.
“If we could narrow that gap to match the difference between Paris and Lyon, we could add £13 billion to the UK economy, while creating more opportunities for businesses, more investment in our communities and better paying, high-quality jobs for our residents.”
The Greater Manchester Strategy may be ambitious but making a success of Tameside is vital to it as it is conceded, ‘Greater Manchester is only successful if every part of our city region is successful.’
However, Mr Burnham added: “Our first decade of devolution has shown how much we can achieve by working together.
“We’re the UK’s fastest growing economy and stand on the cusp of what I believe could be our best decade since the Victorian era.
“Our task for the next decade is to build a platform for success for all our residents.
“We know we will only change the fortunes of all our people and places if we’re prepared to intervene and fix the foundations of life.
“Our vision is ambitious, but in my eight years as Mayor, I’ve learned that, when we pull together, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.”