Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The question to Ask

Property developer Asklife, which is partly owned by Marple Bridge man Ken Knott, has bought Compstall Mills and plans to convert the property into 122 luxury apartments. There's a public consultation that starts this week.

A few years ago I mentioned the possible uses for this building to former councillor Mark Hunter, now an MP. He was adamant it would never get through planning as a residential scheme because of the traffic problems that would ensue.

Ask Life is holding a public consultation to encourage local residents to get involved and have their say on the re-development of Compstall Mills into a luxury, residentially led scheme.

Taking place at the Church Hall in Compstall on Wednesday 11, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 June, Ask Life are inviting locals to view the proposals for 122 high specification, high quality family homes and apartments. The units will be a mix of both new build apartments and houses within the refurbished mills, along with c25,000 sq ft of flexible commercial space.

Planning for the proposed units will be submitted following the community consultation in late July / early August.

Jonathon Weston, Project Manager at Ask Life, says: “We’re really looking forward to the public’s response to the scheme and we are confident that it will be well received.”

Times for the consultation are as follows: Wednesday 11 June 3pm-7pm, Friday 13 June 6:30pm – 8:30pm and Saturday 14 June 10am-2pm.

The question to Ask, is what public realm improvements and traffic control will have to be introduced to ensure that this scheme doesn't utterly screw up the traffic. Bear in mind that Dan Bank in Marple is being rebuilt next year, this horrendous bottleneck will then be the only route out of Marple towards Romiley and beyond.

Maybe Marple should have applied under the Transport Innovation Fund for a new public transport system in return for a peak time congestion charging scheme.

3 comments:

George Dearsley said...

I think you will find ASK or ASK Life have now cooled on this idea. I think Hunter was right, I don't think this development is going to happen. Apart from the traffic and other planning issues, who can afford to buy or who wants to buy such properties in the current economic climate?

Michael Taylor said...

I didn't sense any cooling at the presentation on Saturday. They were even reporting interest from empty nesters, rather than young professionals. It's probably still going to go through planning this year.

There was, in the exhibition, a large portion taken up with the traffic study and some very specific traffic proposals, including a new pelican crossing on Andrew Street.

George Dearsley said...

ASK gave people renting units in Compstall Mill notice to quit recently but then withdrew them. There is enormous local opposition and I think the idea has been mothballed.