Former century-old mill could soon be turned into apartments

A century-old former mill in the ‘heart’ of Ashton-under-Lyne could soon be transformed into new apartments. Plans have been submitted to Tameside council to convert a building which was formerly part of the Good Hope Mill complex on Cross Street into 18 flats.

The building was originally part of a large leather manufacturing complex established in the 19th century by William Ruttenau and Company. It was built in 1920, and closed as part of Good Hope Mill in 1990. In recent years the building, which sits within the Ashton Town Centre Conservation Area, has been used as offices, and also as a small church space.

A heritage statement by Garry Miller submitted on behalf of the proposal states: “The application property is significant in the immediate local context for its architectural and historic interest as an element of the former Good Hope Mill and the legacy of the area’s industrial past. The historical interest and group value which constitute the building’s other positive qualities will be sustained.”

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He adds the building’s ‘distinctive presence’ on Bentinck Street also ‘evokes the area’s manufacturing past’. The applicant, Real Estate Aventor, wants to covert it into a mix of one-bed and studio flats spread across the ground and first floors and using the historical entrance to have better access to the building. There is no affordable housing provision included within the proposed development. "The removal of the roller shutters and the making good of existing damage to the building