Rochdale 81-home scheme renamed John Rennie Place as council sets December 2027 finish

Rochdale Borough Council has said its 81-home brownfield scheme next to Central Retail Park, now named John Rennie Place, is due to complete in December 2027, with procurement of a delivery partner for 142 apartments alongside it expected to start soon.

The council said in a 16 October 2026 update that Willmott Dixon, the contractor, has supported 95 weeks of apprenticeship and T-Level training on the site, including three T-Level placements from Hopwood Hall College. Seven local people are employed on the project, two of whom were previously unemployed, with recruitment supported by the council's work and skills team.

Tommy Patterson, 22, from Middleton, who works on the site, said: "I had been out of work for six months when the job centre arranged for me to get my CSCS card and that led to me securing a scaffolding apprenticeship here on site."

The 95 weeks is progress against a commitment rather than a final figure. When Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) announced the start of work on 6 November 2025, it said Willmott Dixon was offering 180 weeks of training across the project.

The scheme

The development, of two, three and four bedroom homes, is being led by the RDA on behalf of the council. The RDA said the project followed a successful bid for £15m from the government's Community Regeneration Partnerships Fund.

The scheme's name has changed since work began. Both the RDA's start-of-work release and Willmott Dixon's own announcement of its appointment, published on 10 November 2025, called the development Station Gardens. The council's October 2026 update calls it John Rennie Place, after the Scottish civil engineer behind the Rochdale Canal. A council leader's blog places the Station Gardens site at Drake Street/Oldham Road in Rochdale.

The completion date given has also shifted. In November 2025 both the RDA and Willmott Dixon said completion was expected in early 2028; the council now says December 2027.

Willmott Dixon said at appointment that the properties would be the first net zero homes delivered as part of a council-supported housing scheme in Rochdale, and that the site by Rochdale railway station had been empty for several years. Paul Waugh, MP for Rochdale, described it in the RDA's release as the long derelict former MFI site.

Skills and community work

Mike Lane, director of operations at Willmott Dixon, said the company shared the council's and RDA's "passion for ensuring John Rennie Place is built for the people of Rochdale by the people of Rochdale". He said the team had delivered a bespoke Building Lives Academy skills programme for local people not in education, employment or training, which Willmott Dixon describes as a bespoke employability and skills offering.

Among the placement students is Daniel Fletcher, 17, who is studying for a T Level in design, surveying and planning at Hopwood Hall College and wants to become a quantity surveyor. Willmott Dixon committed at the outset to engaging T-Level and apprentice students from the college, and in March 2026 said it was supporting four of its students on T-Level industry placements.

Willmott Dixon and Faber Joinery have also worked with year 10 students at Newhouse Academy in Heywood on the Baker Award, and delivered a construction careers session for the school's Young Leaders Programme, the council said.

Councillor Danny Meredith, cabinet member for housing and regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council and an RDA board member, said the council wants local people and businesses to feel the benefit of local projects, and that social value is embedded in its procurement system so local people benefit from regeneration.

Station gateway plots

The 81 homes are one part of the RDA's station gateway plans. The council said work to create 142 apartments next to the new homes is ongoing, with procurement of a delivery partner expected to get under way soon. The RDA's November 2025 release also listed 33 apartments on a brownfield site at the corner of Maclure Road and Station Road.

Plot	Homes
John Rennie Place (formerly Station Gardens)	81
Adjacent apartments, partner to be procured	142
Maclure Road/Station Road	33

Work on John Rennie Place started in November 2025, and the council's current completion date is December 2027.