Rochdale asbestos plant site should become nature reserve, council told

The derelict site off Spod Road is bordered by houses on both sides

The site of what was once the world's largest asbestos factory should be turned into a wildlife sanctuary, a councillor has said.

The 75-acre site in Rochdale, which housed Turner Brothers Asbestos, was bought by ESG Trading in 2021.

The company wants to sell the land for a "mixed use" scheme, which could potentially include housing.

However, councillor Andy Kelly said Rochdale Council's priority should be "capping it and making it safe".

The site, off Spod Road, in the Spotland area of the town, has a long history of industrial use, including the manufacture of asbestos, dating back to the 19th Century, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'No significant risk'

Castleford-based ESG has assured locals it only plans to remediate the site, which would include creating a "nice green park", before submitting outline proposals to the council.

The site would then likely be sold on to a developer who could bring forward detailed proposals at some point in the future.

However, the Liberal Democrat councillor told a meeting of the Labour-led authority that a nature reserve was the only option without "billions" being spent on the site.

He said it would take "a monumental effort to convince this councillor this is a safe site to build houses on" as he was worried about "somebody in the future sticking a spade in the ground and getting a face full of asbestos".

He said that meant there was "no other option" than taking a stance to "cap the whole thing with clay, put soil on it [and] turn the whole thing into a wildlife area".

He added that the alternative was for any potential developer to "excavate acres and acres and acres of land, which will cost billions of pounds... and dig down 20ft and do it like that".

Council leader Neil Emmott told the meeting the site had not yet been determined as a contaminated site under the Environmental Protection Act and the authority had established there was "no significant risk" from airborne asbestos.

However, he said it was still his view that the site was contaminated.

Councillor John Blundell, the authority's lead on regeneration, added that the council was "doing everything it can to be safe when it comes to that site, and members are sensitive to it".