Nestled away in a quiet Stockport village, an abandoned mill could be given a new lease of life.

Compstall Mill helped build the area around it and once housed cotton mill workers but today is only home to pigeons.

The building was built in the 1830s with the nearby village of Compstall built by businessman George Andrew to house his 800 workers at the mills. The village's waterways were also built by Andrew to supply water from the weir to turn massive wheels supplying the mill's power and later a church, school, and Co-Op store opened in the village.

After its days as a cotton factory, the site became home to a number of businesses including a gym though these have all now moved out. On a tour of the site, the LDRS saw how the roofs of various buildings have now collapsed and the damage left by a devastating fire.

Despite the multiple warning signs and clearly unsafe buildings, the LDRS was told the mill was attracting urban explorers and teenagers trying to see where they can find while illegal raves took place at the back of the site during the COVID pandemic with '1,000 cans' of Red Stripe and Strongbow left behind in their wake.

Soon a pitch will be made to Stockport Council for planning permission to transform the mill which is coming from a group of local developers from across Stockport and Tameside. They want to 'bring the historically important site back into productive use' with plans expected to be submitted to the council later this year.

Previous schemes have failed due to a lack of commercial viability but the latest scheme could deliver 'a cost-effective, high value housing development that is respectful to the local heritage, improves biodiversity, and finally delivers on the site's potential'. Compstall Mill 2025 Limited got the keys to the site in May this year.

Phil Newton said: "The site has been derelict for so long and been an eyesore for so long and the opportunity came around to take over where the previous developers had left off. It was a case of looking at the site and developing something that has got some legs and seeing what we can do."

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As councils like Stockport face pressure to develop on the green belt, Phil said Compstall Mill could be a big win for the local authority and hopes Stockport Council will support it, telling the LDRS: "I think we have got a good chance and a road map to deliver it so let's see where we end up.

"I am not trying to oversell it but do people want to look at that for the next 15 years? Where we are now and where we will end up, I do not know but we need to get the process moving."

Delivering the scheme will not be easy. Due to the site's history and placement within a special conservation area, that means any development has to respect the wider area around it.

There is also a large number of derelict buildings that will need to be demolished. Part of the mill that was devastated in a 2024 fire will have to go while potential flooding issues will need to be addressed.

However the developer group are hoping to have buy in from a local community that have watched the mill gradually look worse and worse over time. Sarah Jackson said recent feedback from public engagement was a desire to see the mill restored but some scepticism about the likelihood of pulling it off.

If the scheme for the site is approved, it would see the former mill turned into apartments overlooking the nearby country park while a row of houses will be built overlooking the River Etherow. The development would be entirely residential providing around 135 to 139 units as well as a memorial commemorating the history of the place.

Ms Jackson said: "It's close to most of our hearts. It's a site most of us know from our children with memories of feeding the ducks.

"Everybody has got a lot of stories about the mill – grandparents who used to work in there originally. It's absolutely close to everyone's hearts."

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