Councillors Lay Down The Law to Landowners

Woodlands Road could be re-opened as close as Monday

Landowners responsible for the emergency closure of Woodlands Road may be forced to take a step back, as Rochdale Township Councillors have voted unanimously for the road to be re-opened, which could take effect from Monday.

Landowners Countryside Properties and MMC closed the half mile road off unexpectedly, after stating that "unauthorised soil removal" had caused an issue of public health, as the land contains deadly asbestos fibres. Members of Save Spodden Valley along with local residents all strongly disagreed with the closure, and said that the road was closed off so that no-one could see what they were ‘up to’.  No evidence has ever been submitted to substantiate the allegations that public health had been threatened by.

The councillors were bemused to hear that since the Emergency Order was requested, and the developers have not been back in contact with the Highways Department. If Rochdale Council's Highways Department accepts the councillors' vote, Woodlands Rd could be open again by next Monday. Then, if landowners keep the road blocked they could face a criminal prosecution.

Chair of the meeting, Cllr. Angela Coric suggested that the notice given by the council meeting to the landowners to fence the asbestos tips should be as little as 4 days.  She stated that this is adequate-  given the fact that they had erected about half a mile of mesh fencing in just 2 days prior to the woodland destruction last year. Donald Forrester, the Highways Department Boss, has stated that additional time may be given for all of the fencing to be taken down.

Recently, the Head of Planning  expressed his dismay at the developers  for not properly informing council officers, councillors and the public about their intentions to close Woodlands Rd. At a full meeting of Rochdale Township last month Mr. Smith said he felt "kicked in the teeth" by Countryside Properties and MMC Estates. These words echoed those of Rochdale's new MP, Paul Rowen who used his maiden Speech in Parliament to criticise the developers for being "less than open" in their actions.

Countryside Properties and MMC were not in attendance at the meeting to account for their actions regarding Woodlands Road.