Hopwood Hall College plan could see Greater Manchester get a zoo again

The zoo would open close to Hopwood Hall, the Grade II listed property being renovated by filmmaker Hopwood DePree

A college's plans to open its animal enclosures to the public could lead to the first zoo opening in Greater Manchester in almost half a century.

Hopwood Hall College has revealed plans to allow the public into the livestock and horticultural zones at Middleton Campus outside of teaching hours.

It would be the first such site in the region since the closure of Manchester's Belle Vue Zoo in 1977.

The college said it would provide a "unique offering to the community".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the college created the zones at the campus almost a decade ago to allow it to offer an animal management education course.

It said the eight-acre (three-hectare) site, which lies alongside the dilapidated Grade II listed mansion being renovated by filmmaker Hopwood DePree, is home to a number of different animals, including flamingos, owls and meerkats, and the plan was now to open it commercially to generate income for the college.

Belle Vue was home to a zoo, circus, theme park, stadium and boating lake

Greater Manchester has been without a zoo since Belle Vue Zoological Gardens closed in 1977.

Once one of the North West's biggest tourist attractions, it opened in 1836, initially offering visitors a large aviary and a few other animal enclosures to enjoy, but grew into a large zoo with an attached theme park, circus, stadium and boating lake.

The new plan for Middleton follows a previous proposal in 2020 to create a 150-acre (50-hectare) zoo on the site, which has since been dropped due to financial concerns.

Submitting its plan to Rochdale Council, the college said the new idea would be "a really positive thing... with social value, providing a unique offering to the community as well as inspiring younger people to get into the associated courses and careers with animals". 

"Its unique offering as an educational facility in this area of expertise gives a real [unique selling point] to the borough and attraction of students," it added.

The proposals will be considered by the council's planning committee at a later date.