ANGER AS PEEL'S BROADOAK DEVELOPMENT GETS A SECOND PUBLIC ENQUIRY

Campaigners including Andrew Moore and Councillor Karen Garrido (Currently Ceremonial Mayor) campaigned against Peel Holdings plans to develop 600 homes on what is grazing land at Broadoak between Monton and Worsley in Salford, which was initially refused by the Council in 2013 and once more by Eric Pickles MP in 2015.

Salford council originally refused permission so Peel immediately lodged an appeal against it which was decided upon by the then secretary of state for communities and local government, Mr Eric Pickles MP.

After a lengthy public enquiry (at public expense) Mr Pickles decided to turn down the plan, much to the relief of the majority of residents in the local surrounding communities, as well as green activists and campaign group RAID.

The greenfield site, a mixture of woods, meadows and open land, stretches from Monton Green all the way through to Worsley Road, and is protected by policies in Salford's Unitary Development Plan.

Protest group Residents Against Inappropriate Development (RAID) – which formed in 2013 - argued at the inquiry that the development would bring more traffic and higher levels of air pollution into an already congested area.

A lack of schools and traffic chaos on Worsley Road was also been raised by protesters, all of which was taken into consideration when the decision to disallow the project was given.

However Peel Holdings took the decision to the High Court who have now allowed (at public expense) a re running of the public enquiry into why the decision was made to refuse the application. 

It seems behemoth Peel Holdings does not know the meaning of the word NO and is determined to steamroll its plan into fruition in any way it can, despite continued opposition from both local residents, campaigners and Salford Council. And despite the decision already made by Mr Pickles on the findings of the original enquiry of which nothing has changed.

The NEW enquiry is set to take place from the 3rd until the 27th of October, Tuesday to Friday each week, at the Novotel in Worsley.

Meeting To Be Held

Concerned residents are invited to a public meeting on the 24th of May at 7:00pm at St Marks Church at Worsley Brow.

In 2015 when the decision refusal was made, Councillor Derek Antrobus (Assistant Mayor for Strategic Planning) said:

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“We are pleased that our planning policy has been strong enough to resist attempts to take away a valuable open space for development.”

“We urge Peel Group to start to develop the sites it has permission for on brownfield land and to work with the Council and the community through a Local Plan to identify the best sites to meet the housing needs of future generations.”

 

Whilst the then City Mayor Ian Stewart remarked:

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“The Worsley Greenway is a precious asset for the people of Salford.”

"There is no doubt we need new homes but there are many other sites that should be used first and can be used away from our precious green spaces.”

 

Salford's current City Mayor Paul Dennett wrote to the government urging them to help local councils up and down the land protect valuable green spaces by urgently making much needed changes to the national planning policy.

Paul said in May 2016:

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“The court judgement means that policies to protect local green spaces – the policies Salford City Council relied on in rejecting this inappropriate development – now do not have the force they should under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).”

“This has implications for every council in the country and risks much of our green and pleasant land disappearing under building projects.

“I’ve written to Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government urging him to review the NPPF urgently to make sure local councils have the power they need to protect valuable green spaces. Our main reason for refusing these 600 homes was to preserve much valued open space between Monton and Worsley but that has been undermined by this court ruling. However Salford council will defend its position when the Broadoak inquiry is re-run.”

It is vitally important that all those who are affected by this should attend the public meeting on the 27th of this month, as it may be the last opportunity for people to demonstrate and voice their concerns before the second enquiry starts later in October.