Stockport Council and its development partner ECF have secured planning permission for the £250m Stockport 8 scheme, marking a major milestone in the town’s £1bn regeneration push.

The 8-acre neighbourhood will see around 1,300 homes built alongside new shops, leisure, offices and public squares on land either side of King Street West, next to the historic viaduct and new interchange.

Detailed consent has been granted for phase one, which will deliver 435 highly energy efficient homes designed to net zero standards, 82 of them affordable.

Plans also include a new public square under the viaduct, cycle lanes, pedestrian links and ground-floor commercial space.

Construction of the first phase is expected to start in 2026 at the former bus station site on Chestergate, with completion in 2028. The whole project will be delivered in phases over 10 years.

The delivery team includes shedkm (architect), Planit (landscape), Vinci (contractor), Arcadis (cost consultant), Walker Sime (PM), Renaissance (engineering), Tace (MEP), Arup (transport).

Joe Stockton, development director at ECF, said: “This is an exciting time for Stockport, as we gear up to kick off one of the largest town centre regeneration projects in the UK.

“People will start to see changes taking place quite quickly now as we get started on phase one.”