Stockport Council News

http://www.cheshire-today.co.uk/25313/cheshire-east-local-plan-bombshell/

“The memorandum also includes an agreement by Cheshire East to use its “best endeavours” to secure a site for Stockport’s traveller community….”

http://www.cheshire-today.co.uk/25313/cheshire-east-local-plan-bombshell/

“Stockport was concerned that additional building in the High Peak could lead to more traffic congestion along the A6 at High Lane and, therefore, damage the “air quality” enjoyed by it’s residents.”

The current flooding situation where dodgy Stockport LibDems intend to build their road for votes.

Over £41,000 spent on the dodgy Stockport LibDems road for votes in September 2013 alone, yet Executive Councillor Roberts moans about having to cut services and having no alternative.

Dear Sir/Madam

Stockport Council has, against all logic, voted in favour of the A6 to
Manchester Airport ‘Relief’ Road, yet Mark Hunter MP is still not happy. He’s
trying to force Cheshire East Council to make a hasty decision on the project,
when they are quite rightly taking time to consider all the elements. That
includes the fact that the road would break the law on two counts. It would
destroy ancient woodland, which has legal protection, and increase air
pollution, which is against EU legislation. It is unbelievable that anyone would
vote in favour of such a scheme. The SEMMMS team has acknowledged that the road
cannot be built with the projected 30% increase in traffic at Disley. To reduce
this to 15% (still illegal) they have devised an ingenious solution. They’ll
restrict the speed limit on the A6 to 30mph. It’s already 30mph for much of its
length.

There are some residents who are hoping this
road will move traffic from their front door to someone else’s; how neighbourly.
One such is Councillor Iain Roberts, who’s now protesting against plans to build
1800 new homes at Handforth because of the extra traffic this will generate. You
couldn’t make it up!

I see the spectre of an extension
of the A555 up to the M60 has returned, so motorway congestion can be eased and
traffic taken instead through valuable greenbelt and flood plains. It’s worth
mentioning here that the proposed widening of the M60 was abandoned by the
Highways Agency because of the effect on air quality. That pollution will
instead be diverted to the countryside, in order to facilitate the massive
expansion of Manchester Airport.

We also need to
address two ‘facts’ that keep cropping up. 1) This road has been planned since
the 1930s. Yes, and there’s a very good reason it hasn’t been built – it creates
many more problems than it solves. Thank goodness we have learned much since
then; many things seemed like a good idea in the ’30s – smoking, leaded petrol,
etc. 2) This road will bring employment. I’ve yet to see evidence of long-term,
full-time jobs actually created, not just moved.

The
case for the road is crumbling by the day. Even if our local politicians are too
short-sighted to accept it’s not an appropriate, sustainable proposition, it
will surely fail at public enquiry.

Yours
faithfully

Kim Barrett
Poynton
PAULA

“It is important to note that the SEMMMS A6 – Manchester Airport Relief Road has not been designed to accommodate the specific impact of the North Cheshire Growth Village proposals and the existing funding in place does not allow for additional measures that might be required; in this regard the direct implications of the North Cheshire Growth Village proposal are of significant concern, as they are in relation to the already significantly constrained A34”

http://t.co/qoV3L08hr6

Dearie me, Councillor Roberts is taking the high moral ground over destruction of Green Belt. It is fine, though, if he buys him votes. Who on earth would ever vote LibDem?

“Conservatives at Cheshire East Council plan to sell greenbelt land they own near Handforth Dean to build a new development of around 1800 houses. As you drive south past the A555 into Cheshire and have Handforth Dean (with Tesco and M&S) on your right, the new development would be on your left, stretching over nearly to Woodford.

This is part of Cheshire East’s Core Strategy & Local Plan (a planning document that sets out, among other things, where they want to build houses across their authority).

The nine councillors (six Lib Dems and the three Heald Green independents) at Cheadle Area Committee were united in having serious concerns about the Conservative plans. Our concerns are in line with the report from Stockport council officers which you can read here (section 5).

The points I made were:

1. We recognise that more houses need to be built – in Stockport, in Cheshire East and everywhere else across the country – to meet need. We aren’t objecting to building houses, and we aren’t Nimby’s. We accept that some new housing will be near us and will affect us.

2. Building on greenbelt land should be a last resort. Before deciding to build on greenbelt, all other options (e.g. brownfield) should be explored. This doesn’t seem to have happened in this case. Several Cheshire East councillors came to our meeting and they alleged that the Conservatives in Cheshire East had decided to build on the greenbelt first, and sought to justify it afterwards. I don’t know if that claim is correct, but we certainly haven’t seen the evidence of a proper study.

3. This volume of housing all on the Cheshire border right next to the A34 will have a massive detrimental effect on Kingsway, especially at the Gatley Road junction, unless the effects are properly mitigated. We don’t know how that mitigation would be achieved, but we’d need to see Cheshire East’s proposals. Currently we’ve agreed that Stockport officers will work with Cheshire East to look at the options and develop proposals.

4. Although the A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road is clearly essential to any significant house building near Handforth Dean, it isn’t sufficient. The new road has not been designed to take all that extra traffic, so additional mitigation would be needed. The risk otherwise would be traffic from the new development clogging up local roads in Heald Green, Gatley and Cheadle as drivers try to find a way past long jams on the A34 and A555.

The Conservatives in Cheshire East have a lot of work to do to fulfill their planning obligations, and we will not be accepting any proposal that results in more traffic jams on our roads.”