Heywood town centre

Heywood is one of Rochdale borough's four townships.

The town has already witnessed improvements in recent years, for example, enhancements such as the Memorial Gardens, the grant funded improvements to many shop fronts and the creation of much needed business space at The Old Police Station.

And the future looks even brighter, with more than a thousand new homes, new shops, a market and better green spaces being proposed in a major redevelopment plan.

The 10-15 year proposal has been developed as part of a joint partnership plan called Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods (SUN). A steering group has been set up involving community representatives, councillors and Heywood Housing Partnership Board.

In the past, Heywood has seen young adults leaving the area to work and set up home elsewhere. But the plans for new housing, retail space, business and community spaces - developed by urban designers Taylor Young – aim to see Heywood revitalised and reverse that trend.

The draft plans have been developed on behalf of Heywood Housing Partnership, Heywood Township, Rochdale Development Agency, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing and Rochdale Borough Council.

The idea is to build a variety of properties on open land before demolishing existing properties to make way for modern houses and apartments.

You can find out more about what’s happening in Heywood by visiting http://www.heartofheywood.org