The former home of Coronation Street legend Julie Goodyear has been targeted by anti-migrant protesters after false rumours spread that the site would be used to house immigrants.
The actress, who played soap legend Bet Lynch, sold the £1.5m mansion in Heywood, Greater Manchester, in 2025. Since then, several planning applications have been made for the property.
Demonstrators gathered outside Primrose Hill Farm over the weekend after claims emerged that the property was set to become a house in multiple occupation (HMO).
Building work began on the property without any planning permission, and neighbours were concerned that the home could be used to house illegal immigrants.
However, Rochdale Council has said no official plans had been submitted to house immigrants, and building works have now stopped.
In October, an application for a 15-bed HMO was submitted to the council, which was amended in November to become a 15-room bed and breakfast, the BBC reported. These building control plans were amended again in February to create 10 two-bedroom apartments. The stable would be converted into a three-bedroom house.
However, the council deemed the application to be invalid as there was not enough detail and was not published on the council’s planning portal.
As a result, there were no plans for immigrants to be housed at the site published on the council website.
Once work started on the property, without planning permission, misinformation spread sparking the protest.
Rochdale council said it issued a temporary stop notice on 20 February and the developer complied.
“The individual concerned submitted a planning application to us some weeks ago, but this application was for nine dwellings, not an HMO,” a spokesperson for Rochdale Council toldThe Independent.
“This application wasn’t valid, so is not listed on our website, as would be the case with any invalid application. An invalid application is one where the applicant hasn’t submitted enough information to enable officers to make a recommendation on whether the application should be approved or not.
“Following reports to us that building was taking place on site without planning permission, we issued a temporary stop notice. This stop notice remains in place and our enforcement team are making regular visits to the site and speaking to residents in neighbouring properties to ensure that the individual concerned is complying with this temporary stop notice.”
The Independent has approached Greater Manchester Police for comment.
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