Decision

At this point in the proceedings, Councillor Wardle declared a pecuniary interest by virtue of owning land in the vicinity of the area affected by the proposal. Councillor Wardle left the meeting during consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon.

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Economy and Place which provided an update on the latest developments relating to the establishment of the Northern Gateway Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC). The report outlined progress made in developing the governance and constitutional arrangements for the MDC and sought Cabinet's consideration of the proposed arrangements.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing introduced the report and stated that the Northern Gateway Mayoral Development Corporation presented an exciting opportunity for the borough to support economic growth, create new jobs and deliver additional housing for local communities.

The Head of Strategic Growth presented the report and informed that the Atom Valley Northern Gateway MDC had been established in January 2026 following a statutory process led jointly by Rochdale Council, Bury Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

It was noted that Rochdale Council would act as the host authority for the MDC, providing legal, democratic services and financial support. The report outlined the proposed operational and funding arrangements, including the principle that costs would be shared between the partner authorities and the Combined Authority, with contributions expected to be met through external funding sources. The recommendations were then presented for Cabinet's consideration.

Resolved:

1. That the the MDC operational arrangements, costs, and cost sharing approach as set out at Appendix 1 to the report be noted;
2. That the use of reserve from the Equalisation Reserve for Rochdale Council’s revenue costs be noted.

Reason for decision:

In March 2025, Cabinet endorsed the creation of an MDC as the preferred delivery vehicle for the Northern Gateway and most appropriate route to achieve the Strategic Development Vision for Northern Gateway, endorsed by Cabinet in November 2024.

As set out in the report to Cabinet in July 2025, Rochdale Council would host the MDC with Bury Council to act as the partner authority for an initial period of 2 years with reviews every 5 years thereafter, with the operational resource costs of the MDC shared equally between the Councils.

Alternatives considered and rejected:

A core principle of the MDC from the outset had been that both Bury and Rochdale Councils would contribute equally to its costs, therefore no alternative split of costs had been considered. Alternative operational arrangements, including Bury Council being the initial host authority, were considered as the MDC proposal was developed. Rochdale Council was considered to have the operational capacity to be the initial host authority.

The review cycle for hosting arrangements was proposed to be 5 years throughout the lifetime of the MDC. This was reduced to 2 years for the first review as this was considered a suitable period for the MDC to stabilise, and a point at which the respective circumstances of the Councils, with respect to operational capacity to support the MDC, may have changed.