Cabinet is asked on 15 September to start compulsory purchase of the Stagecoach depot at Daw Bank, after a payment row stalled plans for 1,328 homes.

Stockport Council is preparing to compulsorily purchase the bus depot at Daw Bank. A report published this week asks Cabinet, on 15 September, to approve the making of a compulsory purchase order over the depot site so that the first phase of the Stockport 8 regeneration scheme can start.

The reason is money. The council and Stagecoach, which holds the lease, agreed years ago that the depot would move. They have not agreed what the council should pay Stagecoach to hand the site over.

The council’s report puts it plainly. Stagecoach “is demanding a financial payment in order to provide vacant possession of the Site to the Council, and the sum is in excess of the sum to which the Council’s advisers consider it is entitled” (Stockport Council). That is the council’s account of a private negotiation. The detail sits in a confidential appendix that has not been published, and Stagecoach has not issued a public statement on it.

What is actually at stake

The site is the Stagecoach depot at Daw Bank, SK3 0DU, in Edgeley ward, plus some small slivers of unregistered subsoil beneath the neighbouring pavements. It is needed for Phases 1 and 3 of Stockport 8, the joint venture between the council and English Cities Fund.

The masterplan across all three phases now stands at 1,328 homes. The report sets out what the first and third phases would deliver:

  • Phase 1: 435 homes in three apartment blocks, including 82 affordable homes let at an 80% market discount and 59 accessible or adaptable homes
  • Phase 1 also: about 9,500 sq ft of ground-floor commercial and community space, a new public square called Viaduct Square, and a new east to west pedestrian route named Cook Street
  • Phase 3: outline permission for up to 480 homes on the triangular site south of Phase 1 and Daw Bank, with about 3,500 sq ft of commercial and community floorspace

The whole site is 4.75 hectares of brownfield land. The council expects Stockport 8 to house more than 3,760 people when complete, and forecasts around 160 full-time equivalent construction jobs a year during the build, with up to 79 jobs in the finished commercial space.

The money already committed is the other pressure. GMCA allocated £41.3m of Good Growth Fund to Phase 1 in November 2025: £37.4m for the 353 private rent apartments in plots 1A and 1C, and £3.89m for the 82 affordable apartments in plot 1B. The report warns that continued uncertainty “could also risk the loss of the significant public funding that has been secured”.

The awkward history

The council already owns the freehold. It bought Daw Bank from Stagecoach in 2021, then immediately granted Stagecoach a 25-year lease back so the buses could keep running until a new depot existed (Stockport Council, March 2026). Five years on, that lease is the obstacle.

The relocation itself is not in dispute. The plan, set out in the March Cabinet report, is:

  • the depot moves temporarily to two nearby sites, Heaton Lane and the former Lundy steel stockholders’ premises on Chestergate
  • the two temporary sites would take up to 148 buses between them, against about 105 currently parked at Daw Bank
  • temporary planning consent was sought for up to five years
  • a permanent electrified depot, to be delivered by TfGM, is not expected until 2029/30
  • the council says there will be no changes to bus services in Stockport because of the move

Depot works were programmed to start on site in August 2026. Start on site for Stockport 8 Phase 1 was originally scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. The report now says that “is no longer likely to be achievable”.

How a compulsory purchase order works from here

The route from the Daw Bank report to a compulsory purchase A six step sequence. On 17 August 2026 the council published notice that the Cabinet item may be heard in private. On 3 September the Housing, Economy and Environment Scrutiny Committee comments on the report at 6pm at the Town Hall. On 15 September Cabinet decides whether to authorise the order. If the order is made it goes to the Secretary of State for confirmation. If there are objections a public inquiry can be convened. If it is confirmed the council can take possession, and disputed compensation is settled by the Upper Tribunal, Lands Chamber. Throughout, the council says it will keep negotiating to buy the site by agreement. From this week's report to a compulsory purchase The steps the council has set out for the Daw Bank site 17 August 2026 Notice published that the Cabinet item may be heard in private 3 September 2026 Scrutiny committee comments on the report, 6pm at the Town Hall 15 September 2026 Cabinet decides whether to authorise the order If the order is made It is submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation If there are objections A public inquiry can be convened to consider them If it is confirmed The council can take possession; disputed compensation goes to the Upper Tribunal Throughout: the council says it will keep negotiating to buy the site by agreement. Source: Stockport Council, "Use of compulsory purchase powers in respect of land at Town Centre West, Stockport", 3 September 2026 Graphic by Stockport Today
Nothing about a compulsory purchase order is quick. The council is starting the process now precisely because the later stages take so long.

The power the council would use is section 226(1)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which lets a council buy land compulsorily where it thinks the purchase will help development or improvement. It can only be used where that would contribute to the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of the area, and where there is a compelling case in the public interest.

The report is candid about why the council would start now rather than wait. Government guidance, it says, warns that delaying the start of the process loses time, that formal procedures can run in parallel with negotiations, and that starting them “can also help signal the Council’s seriousness and clear intent from the outset”.

Officers also want the railway arches folded in. Cabinet already resolved on 17 March 2026 to compulsorily purchase land under the viaduct known as the Arches Land, needed for the pedestrian link from Stockport 8 to the town centre and the Interchange. Rather than run two orders, officers want the power to decide whether to put both into one.

Where the money would come from

The council would pay Stagecoach the market value of its leasehold interest, plus any disturbance and other compensation it is entitled to. In an agreed deal, the council would also pay Stagecoach’s legal and surveying fees. There is also a sublease over solar panels on the depot buildings that may need to be compensated.

The purchase would be funded through the MDC Investment Facility, which is a borrowing facility. The report says the cost has to be recouped or it becomes an ongoing financial pressure, and that officers expect to recover it through profit sharing on Stockport 8.

The report acknowledges that compulsory purchase interferes with Stagecoach’s rights under Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights. Officers argue the interference is proportionate, because a relocation plan is already in place and bus operations will continue.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes for bus passengers yet. The council says the depot move will not alter bus services in Stockport, and a permanent electrified depot is not due until 2029/30.
  • The first 435 homes are later than planned. A start on site in early 2027 is, in the council’s own words, no longer likely.
  • You can watch the scrutiny debate. The Housing, Economy & Environment Scrutiny Committee meets at 6pm on Thursday 3 September in Committee Room 2 at the Town Hall, and the meeting is webcast.
  • The Cabinet part may be private. The council published notice on 17 August that the 15 September item is likely to move into private session, because the appendix contains commercially sensitive material. Anyone who objects to that can write to Democratic Services, Stockport Council, Town Hall, Stockport SK1 3XE, or email democratic.services@stockport.gov.uk.
  • Nothing is settled on 15 September. Even if Cabinet says yes, the order still needs confirmation by the Secretary of State, and there may be a public inquiry first.

If you are following the town centre build-out, our Stockport planning news page tracks the applications, and the roadworks and travel page covers the closures the construction is already causing. The first businesses at the neighbouring Weir Mill opened this month.

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