Luxury home development at historic Crimble Hall approved despite fire safety concerns
The transformation of a former restaurant into a six-home development that fire engines would ‘struggle to get to’ has been approved in Heywood. Rochdale Council’s Planning Committee believed changing the use of the historic Crimble Restaurant building was acceptable despite councillors’ concerns regarding green belt encroachment and the fact it does not meet fire service requirements, Number One Riverside heard on October 20.
Officers stated that it was not a problem when the restaurant was active, which is why they have not taken forward GMFRS’ recommendation. They deemed a restaurant to be more of a fire risk than six homes as well. Officers hit back at this by stating that the redistribution of the land meant there would actually be more green space after the development was complete. Jennifer Heywood, representing the farm neighbouring Crimble Hall, addressed the committee to raise her objections.
“We have three generations of farmers who have lived there and there is a private, unadopted road and we don’t want to get in disputes with people going down there. I also want you to consider the legacy left in this area once they have taken their money and left.She accepted that Crimble Hall needed to be brought back into use, but didn’t want the farm to suffer from people encroaching on their land and blocking up the lanes - to the detriment of their livestock.