Improvements to Heritage Green

Improvements to Heritage Green

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The Friends of Heritage Green celebrated a major victory earlier this year when it persuaded Rochdale Borough Council to reverse its decision to sell Heritage Green (the field at the junction of Caldershaw Road/Cut Lane) to builders and instead maintain the field for leisure and recreational purposes.

One of the main aims of the Friends is to register Heritage Green as a Village Green as this would preserve Heritage Green for use for leisure and recreational purposes for the long term and prevent the Council from making any future plans to sell the land.

The application process has been ongoing since May 2015 and shows no signs of coming to an early conclusion and may run on for a number of years at considerable cost culminating in a public inquiry run by an independent expert such as a barrister before a decision is finally made as to whether to register Heritage Green as a Village Green.

As an alternative, the Friends has suggested to the Council that they voluntarily consider dedicating Heritage Green as a Village Green, given it is highly probable that it is unsuitable to build houses on, given the history of subsidence and flooding in this area, and its value to the community as a leisure and recreation space, but to date this proposal has met with a negative response from the Council.

Until recently the Friends of Heritage Green had been loathe to propose and implement improvement initiatives at Heritage Green whilst the Village Green application is pending, but as this is likely to take years, the Friends decided to grasp the nettle and approach the Council to see what they could do in the meantime to improve and develop Heritage Green. 

The Friends of Heritage Green presented their 'Improvement and Development Plan' to the Council and agreed a way forward and some initial actions.

The first initiative was for council rangers to undertake an environmental survey and meet with representatives of the Friends to discuss possible improvements. The rangers produced a diverse list of plants, trees and bushes that are growing on Heritage Green.

At the site meeting, it was agreed to strim and clear sections of the undergrowth near the stream to allow the vegetation to regenerate and flourish and to embark on a programme to reduce the quantity of Himalayan Balsam that has invaded this area and also to look in to flood alleviation. The rangers also concluded that the area near the stream was probably a 'bat corridor' which was consistent with observations from members of the Friends of Heritage Green who have seen bats on numerous occasions particularly at dusk.

One section near the stream on Heritage Green has been strimmed, raked and tidied and this first area looks much improved and should provide for a change of scenery and habitat next year. A programme of regular strimming and raking and clearing has been scheduled.

Mark Hope, of the Friends of Heritage Green, said: “It has literally been a breath of fresh air to do something positive in the outdoors to improve Heritage Green rather than campaigning to stop houses being built on the field or drowning in paperwork and legal research documents pursuing Village Green registration. All the members are keen to get out there and make Heritage Green more attractive and valuable as both a wildlife habitat and a community facility.”

Interestingly, a used millstone was dug up whilst raking, suggesting that an old mill used to operate at this site. The Friends of Heritage Green are attempting to research the history of the site. If any readers have any knowledge of there being a mill on Heritage Green, please contact Mark Hope:

markhope680@btinternet.com

07812 195873