Cooper Melksham tyre factory site could be made into 600 houses

In October 2022, Goodyear announced that the Cooper Tire Europe headquarters and manufacturing operation was set to close around a year later. In November 2023, the land associated with the tyre plant went up for sale in parallel with plans to redevelop the site into residential premises.

Billed as a major “circa 0.68-acre town centre waterside mixed-use development opportunity”, the total site is made up of 30 acres of brownfield land (including where the factory structure currently stands) and 38.5 acres of greenfield land. An indicative masterplan proposes that “495 dwellings and 87,500 square feet of commercial space” could be built on the brownfield land plus “128 residential dwellings on the greenfield site”. The overall plot includes Avon House, the grade II listed building familiar to those who have visited the former Cooper-Avon headquarters.

Of course, Cooper Tires Europe, which is itself owned by Goodyear, currently occupies the site “but will vacate on 30 June 2024”, according to the appointed estate agent, Cushman & Wakefield’s, sales literature.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, the landowner’s preference is to sell the site “unconditionally as a whole” but will consider “selling the parcels separately on an unconditional or subject to planning (STP) basis”.

Melksham News reports that local leaders have said the former factory site provides a prime opportunity to “re-shape Melksham’s future in a key part of the town”. However, a new community group is campaigning to preserve the closing Cooper tyre plant. Melksham Green Space is particularly interested in the greenfield portion of the overall site. The group, which was started in a local pub, argues that “biodiversity is having a very bad time in Britain” and “Cooper tyres have been here for 130 years. It would be a nice lasting legacy to bequeath it to Melksham town”, according to a BBC News report.

The closing date for feedback relating to Melksham’s neighbourhood plan was 3 December 2023. The first round of bids are due by 12 noon on 19 January 2024. The landowners aim to select a preferred purchaser by the end of February 2024.