Atom Valley, a major development zone in Rochdale, is set to deliver 17 million square feet of employment space, 7,000 new homes and 20,000 highly skilled jobs in technology and manufacturing. The first milestone arrived with the completion of the Sustainable Materials & Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) at Kingsway Business Park in the Northern Gateway part of the project.
Rochdale's development agency leading the charge
The Rochdale Development Agency (RDA), the organisation behind many of these projects, is led by managing director Rachel Laver. She told the Manchester Evening News that the RDA wants to bring the benefits of Atom Valley closer to local people.
"I want to do more of bringing what we do closer to people. We talk about Northern Gateway and Atom Valley, a huge initiative bigger than Trafford Park and a collaboration between Bury, Oldham and Rochdale councils," said Laver. "But I want local people to know it's for them, not just some nebulous thing you hear people talking about."
Manufacturing heritage and economic challenges
Laver highlighted that manufacturers in the area, such as Heatsense Cables making parts for space rockets and Hutchinson Engineering making parts for JCB and Caterpillar, are already thriving. "You listen to the press and you'd think manufacturing is dead, it's not," she said. "Manufacturers are doing amazingly well."
She also pointed out that funding often goes to main centres, leaving peripheral areas like Rochdale with less investment. "Quite often the funding goes into the main centres and the areas on the periphery don't get as much investment," Laver added. "So I think we need to bang the drum to make sure we get our fair share."
Infrastructure and housing plans
The RDA is lobbying with Transport for Greater Manchester to increase tram regularity, introduce new bus timetables and improve the road network. Work is already underway on the Simister Island upgrade, due in 2029, and the Queen Elizabeth II Way extension off Junction 19 in South Heywood has improved access to Kingsway Business Park.
A housing project next to Rochdale station, known as John Rennie Place, began in November last year and is due for completion in December 2027. The station will also see a revamp, including a new project called 'Station Platform Gardens' to create a linear park on a redundant platform.
Laver said the station currently feels disconnected from the town centre. "As you go down Drake Street it isn't very welcoming," she said. "As we build up John Rennie Place, it's going to get so much more footfall, which uplifts the area."
Culture and wider borough projects
The RDA also runs around 54 cultural programmes, including at the Grade-I listed Rochdale Town Hall and the Touchstones museum and art gallery, which will reopen in Spring 2027. In Middleton, the Mayoral Development Corporation is moving forward with plans to buy out Warwick Mill for redevelopment, despite around 1,500 tyres found dumped there.
Looking ahead, Laver said: "I would like to say we'd see thriving communities. But we should see more town centres living across the whole of the borough, not just Rochdale." She added that the borough has the capacity to take a lot of housing, with 7,000 new homes proposed in Atom Valley, and that the investment will support the local economy.
