Opposition to proposed developments outlined in Greater Manchester Spatial Framework

Public response to Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals:

On Bamford

Chairman of the Oakenroad and Bamford Forum, Ian Sturrock, said: “Green Belt is there to allow towns to breath allowing the beauty of this land of ours to be preserved and I’m against it being eroded.

“So far as Bamford is concerned, I understand Peel Holdings have owned land to the west side of Norden Road waiting for an opportunity such as this to cash in. There is a cricket field which Peel donated when they moved from land at Fieldhouse Mill and also a tennis centre, would those be left for the residents’ future use?

“The land on which there are football pitches to the rear of Bamford Mews, I believe is owned by the Council, what will be their intention I ask myself? 700 youngsters play there every Saturday morning.

“I have lived here for nearly 40 years, I was an ‘incomer’ who came to work in Manchester and subsequently in Prestwich, Bury and Bolton but continued to live in Bamford where the then new community came together with the existing and Bamford has been a great part of Rochdale in which to live. However, this council will not refuse any opportunity to increase income generation, whether or not it benefits existing residents.

“It really is a good job that Ashworth Valley exists it would be rather difficult to build down there.”

Founding member of the original Bamford Green Belt Action Group, Anne Shorrock, said: “A leaflet will be going out to the Bamford community to inform them of the public meeting that will take place on Monday 21 November at Bamford Chapel at 6.30pm, regarding the alarming news of the proposed building of 750 executive type properties in Bamford.

“The site involved, which is green belt land, stretches from the right hand side of Jowkin Lane (taking in Norden Road) across to Hollin Lane and then carries on behind Bamford Mews and along the rear of the properties on Norford Way and Greenvale. There is a map on the leaflet.

“This is devastating news for Bamford. The land is the lungs of the community. It is why people come to live in Bamford. The countryside is on their doorstep and they don’t have to get into their cars to access it. Apparently, after 20 years, Rochdale’s green belt covering the whole borough will shrink from 63pc to 58pc, so why has most of that 5pc got to be in Bamford?

“We cannot not fight it but we might have to compromise for some building to take place. Most of the land is owned by Peel Holdings and that says it all – one of the big beasts of the industry.

“This is not a political fight, as I understand our local Labour MP, Liz McInnes, is supporting us in our protest. This is a people’s campaign no matter what their political views are and is to save our precious green belt from being built on. The Government wants people to have more say over what happens in their area, and this will be a prime example.

“Councillor Pat Sullivan will be chairing the public meeting at which we will be re-forming the Bamford Green Belt Action Group and will be looking for members of the public to come on board with some dynamic plans. I will be chairing the Action Group.”

On Littleborough:

Clive Jones said: “The following comments are made in the spirit of the need for quality of life decisions for the future wellbeing of my community.

“Yet again, unrealistic and ill-considered housing development plans are being put forward for Littleborough, with not even the vestige of a plan or even a suggestion, to address serious and essential infrastructure improvements to the area.

“No element of the current proposal considers the long established and historical tourism features, and thereby potential employment of the area, which has no potential for heavy industry, for example, due to the geography of the area.

“The suggested development main through road is a B class road already overloaded with commuter traffic and the nearby alternative A58 is likewise overloaded with commercial and commuter through traffic; there are no other routes for this existing traffic.

“The local Council responsible for the area’s management has for a variety of reasons failed to deal with several major issues consistently and questions of competency have been raised with increasing frequency.

“The time frame for consultation on these development issues and measures may well be inadequate to obtain a quality decision for a sound view of the future given that evidence of the past is that decisions made in a hurry are often mistakes.

“On Boxing Day 2015, Littleborough flooded and not for the first time. It is worth noting that contributory factors to flooding were a number of unadopted roads with blocked drains that caused problems, major road drain maintenance from fallen leaves was poor.

“Almost a year on these problems are still there.

“I should point out that had the December 2015 flood occurred on a normal working day the A58, B6225 and the A633 would have been impassable and would have caused much worse chaos through what is a major route area.

“It should be clear that trying to stop large volumes of water moving at speed would require massive effort and resources. However, containment at little or no speed is a real possibility and should be pursued, which is simple.

“The flooding on this day in 2015 affected Rochdale, the new council offices, costing over £50million, were flooded at ground floor level and eleven months later are just recovering. The electricity substation was flooded and the total economic costs must be horrendous.

“None of this can adequately describe the social consequences for individuals and even though the community came together, little is as costly, debilitating and stressful as a flood and the individual losses it brings.”

On existing empty homes and disused sites:

Lawrence Glendinning said: “What about all the disused sites dotted around the area? We have a huge site in Dexine, that once had a planning permission, but nothing happened. It’s an eyesore. I’m all for improvement, but at least use up the sites we have now before churning up green field sites. We have multiple empty houses that can be ‘done up’”.

James Ashton said: “It's an absolute disgrace to build more houses in a town that doesn't have the means to support them. Our roads are already congested, trains from Leeds already full when arriving in Littleborough, there are not enough school places for local kids and they even closed down our local A+E and wards. There are more than enough brownfield sites that could be redeveloped.