Dan Whelan
A project to create a 100-acre zoo near Hopwood Hall in Rochdale has hit the buffers because the man behind the plans, Johnpaul Houston, cannot be tracked down.
“It is a shame,” said Dan Mitchell, director at planning consultancy Barton Willmore, which was advising Houston on planning matters. “The business case was there and early discussions with the council had been encouraging.
“It was all knitting together nicely. It is a missed opportunity.”
Barton Willmore claims it was unable to contact Houston for over a year, and subsequently filed a winding-up petition against Manchester Zoo Commercial – the vehicle set up to deliver the project and of which Houston is named as the sole director – over money owed.
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