Oldham Northern Roots: Wheels back in motion to expand

The 160-acre Northern Roots site has evolved from its brownfield beginnings on the fringe of Oldham town centre and is now on track to becoming the UK's largest urban farm.

The site dates back to 1902 when social reformer, Mary Higgs, founded the Beautiful Oldham Society to encourage residents to plant flowers and trees.

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Over the years, it was transformed into a small urban farm on the green area known as Snipe Clough with bee hives, bug hotels and growing beds to increase biodiversity and encourage the community to reconnect with nature.

Now, the vision is to upscale the site into a large eco-farm with wetlands, to grow fresh produce and generate green electricity while attracting more than 100,000 visitors per year through the doors of its visitor centre, learning facilities and events space.

Northern Roots started from humble beginnings in 1902 (Image: JMArchitects)

In October 2022, the planning committee approved this initial master plan and even teased scope for a wild swimming pond further down the line.

The plan includes a visitor and learning centre, comprised of multi-faith prayer and meditation spaces, classrooms and a cafe and shop, the produce of which will be supplied from the site's many allotments.

An events building is also earmarked for the site for forest school visits, woodland weddings, music and cultural events and wellness and educational visits for up to 60 guests, plus a forestry depot to offer skilled courses.

However, while work was expected to begin in late 2023, site investigations came across some constraints which jeopardised progress.

This included concerns over the ground conditions around three former mineshafts as well as several high-quality (category A and B) trees and pockets of invasive species.

The visitor centre will contain a shop, cafe and various rooms (Image: JMArchitects)

Fresh proposals have now been submitted to attend to some of these issues, which include reshaping and relocating some of the buildings.

The altered plans propose moving the visitor centre further back from the playing fields to embed it further into the woodland.

In its new position, it will sit next to a "dipping pond" which will be used as a teaching aid for habitats and to facilitate outdoor learning.

The design of the centre itself will follow the concept of a butterfly wing "taking flight" with its curved form and twisted canopy roof and will open onto a wrap-around terrace overlooking a "sensory" wildflower meadow, views of Hartshead Pike and access to the site's existing outdoor amphitheatre. 

A planning statement by Plan Red said the amended centre presents a "marginal improvement" on the impact of the openness of green belt land.

The forestry depot (Image: Planit)

Meanwhile, plans for the forestry skills hub have also "evolved" to sit in a single two-storey building as opposed to two separate single-storeys and move it nearer to the visitor centre.

The forestry hub will also be split internally between 'dirty' workshop-based and yard work activities to 'clean' activities, such as the kitchen, office, meeting room and classroom.

Plan Red argue this layout makes it more "efficient" and "practical" as it uses the building's full height while simultaneously reducing the overall footprint of the building.

Finally, the events space will be redesigned from a circular space to a rectangular plan with an outdoor space for marquees.

The events space has a roof designed to look like a tent (Image: Planit)

Planning documents show it will have a pitched roof, reflecting its role as a meeting place within woodland clearing, and suggest it can be used as a standalone location or in tandem with the visitor centre to cater for larger events.

While there is no mention of a wild swimming pond in the latest set of planning documents, a separate application outlines details for Northern Roots' 'ubran farm two', spanning 2.45 hectares.

This application outlines details for the site's community growing allotment, which includes implementing polytunnels, a service yard, compost bins, a barn, a play area and a gathering space, as well as an agroforestry plot, chicken coop and a herb garden.

The news comes as Northern Roots also announced in January it will be expanding by a further four acres , with longer-term plans to expand by a further six in the following years.

In support of the tweaked plans, Plan Red said the proposal continues "to respect the rural aspect of the landscape" and argues the urban farm maintains "the character of the open countryside".

Plan Red also argues the site brings a plethora of environmental and social benefits, including enhancing nature and habitats, improving water quality and boosting the health and wellbeing of the community, particularly those with physical and mental health needs, as well as economic benefits ranging from the creation of more than 80 jobs and 150 volunteering roles.

Oldham Council is yet to decide on the plans.

Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk