Plans for the UK’s biggest urban farm and eco-park in Oldham which leaders hope will attract 100,000 visitors a year are set to be decided soon.

Officers are recommending approval for the first major phase of the Northern Roots project, which focuses on the top half of the 160-acre site in Snipe Clough.

It will include a visitor centre, with spaces for events and meetings and a café and shop, a natural amphitheatre and performance space as well as a learning centre, forestry depot and solar panels.

The application also includes outline proposals for a natural swimming pond and a community growing allotment.

Produce from the proposed market garden would be sold in the shop and the cafe in the visitor centre.

A massive 880 solar panels will be used to provide electricity for the buildings across the Northern Roots site.

Documents say the developments could cater to events such as outdoor performances, weddings, festivals and workshops.

Councillors will vote on whether to approve the plans at a meeting of Oldham’s planning committee on Wednesday night.

The whole site runs from the Grade Two listed Alexandra Park, past Park Bridge and down to Daisy Nook country park.

Two existing football pitches on the site are due to be retained and upgraded, while two are planned to be relocated onto a new plot in the north east.

A car park will be created on Nether Hey Street, and there are a number of cycling and walking route improvements proposed, but no new roads are planned.