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Stockport Council News

Padden Brook

LibDem Councillor Mark Hunter, LibDem Councillors, Lisa Smart LibDem PPC, Senior council officers, Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Mon, April 21, 2025 11:02

This protected amenity land/Local Wildlife Site, untouched since the 1960s, has been allowed to be destroyed by senior council officers Vicki Bates, Monitoring Officer, Michael Cullen, Chief Executive and Emma Curle, Head of Planning. The Local LibDem MP, Lisa Smart, and local councillors Angela Clark, Mark Roberts and Rachel Bresnahan – all lazy and useless – were begged for 220 days to act. They did nothing.

When they did finally respond the reply was all lies. The land was being improved and the rubbish was being tidied up. A planning application was allowed to proceed deliberately giving a false location. This sort of thing is fine in LibDem run Stockport. The LibDem Leader, Mark Hunter, in reply to a council meeting claimed the council couldn’t act on wildlife crime. He lied.

If housing is built on that site, it will signify corruption reigns supreme at Stockport Council, yet again. I shall be contacting the police if that happens. There are so many instances of Stockport Council’s planning corruption on this website already, most notably the appalling case of the still-gassing toxic waste dump school where lethal brown asbestos fibres were deliberately left in situ.

The protected land before it was improved and tidied up.

This is the planning refusal which confirms the land is protected amenity land.

Protected amenity land refers to land that has been designated or set aside for public benefit, often for recreational, environmental, or visual purposes.

Here’s a general overview of the legal position:


⚖️ Definition

Amenity land is land that enhances the value or enjoyment of a property or the environment, usually by providing open space, greenery, or visual relief. It often includes:

  • Grass verges
  • Public green spaces
  • Land around housing estates
  • Village greens
  • Play areas or parkland

🔒 Protected Status

Land can be protected in several ways, including:

  1. Planning Conditions or Section 106 Agreements
    • When planning permission is granted, conditions may be imposed requiring some land to remain open for amenity use.
    • Section 106 agreements (in the UK) can legally bind developers to preserve amenity spaces.
  2. Designation as Public Open Space
    • Local councils may designate land as public open space through local development plans. This designation limits development and ensures access and environmental protection.
  3. Statutory Protections
    • In the UK, land may be registered as a village green under the Commons Act 2006. Once registered, development is highly restricted.
    • Green belt land and land protected under environmental laws (e.g., SSSI, AONB) may also include amenity value and have additional layers of protection.
  4. Restrictive Covenants
    • Some land is subject to legal covenants that restrict development or use to preserve amenity for nearby residents.
  5. Ownership by Local Authorities or Charitable Trusts
    • Many amenity spaces are held by councils or trusts for the benefit of the public. These bodies may have legal obligations not to dispose of or develop the land.

🚧 Development on Amenity Land

Development or change of use on protected amenity land is typically subject to:

  • Strict planning controls – applications will likely face opposition and must demonstrate community benefit or exceptional justification.
  • Public consultation – especially if the land is publicly owned or widely used.
  • Judicial review or legal challenge – if the decision to develop is deemed unlawful or procedurally unfair.

🏛️ Case Law & Precedents (UK examples)

Some notable legal principles include:

  • Courts have generally upheld protections for land that has been used as open space or is under statutory trust.
  • In cases like Oxfordshire CC v Oxford City Council [2006], the courts confirmed strong protections for village greens.

✅ Key Takeaways

  • Protected amenity land has legal safeguards against inappropriate development.
  • Protections can stem from planning law, environmental law, local policy, or private legal agreements.
  • Attempting to develop such land usually requires extensive legal and planning justification and public engagement.

There is a covenant on the land:

I have a copy of a lease dated 24th of June 1964 between Hathelow Investments Ltd of 452 Manchester Road, Heaton Chapel (the Lessor) and Winchover Ltd of 5 New Brown Street, Manchester (the Lessee).

The Lease stated at 2. “The Lessee will not at any time without the previous consent in writing of the Lessor erect or suffer to be erected on the said land any mesuage  dwellinghouse building or other erection.”



Stockport Council (again)

Stockport Council Meetings, Uncategorised Posted on Tue, November 30, 2021 18:52

Disabled man’s carers let him pay for their food – despite him being ‘very vulnerable to financial exploitation’

Stockport council has been ordered to reimburse him

Carers of a disabled man let him pay for their food despite the fact he lacked the mental capacity to manage his finances.

Stockport council has been ordered to reimburse him for any meals he shelled out for over a 12 month period – and also ensure others have not been treated similarly.

It comes after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) upheld a complaint against the authority from the disabled man’s father.

A report from the ombudsman notes how, in January 2020, ‘Mr D’ complained to the council about staff eating meals at his son’s expense.

The disabled man – referred to as ‘Mr E’ in the report – was living at a 24-hour supported housing unit, and was supported by two carers when out in the community.


The council responded that it would be ‘difficult to investigate’ the complaint without evidence of the dates and times this was alleged to have happened.

It added that staff brought their own food – which they ate with tenants at meal times as ‘good practice’ – so needed proof to back up Mr D’s claim.

However, the council later changed tack and chose to treat the issue as a safeguarding referral, rather than a complaint.

In a letter to Mr D in May 2020, the council confirmed that ‘Mr E regularly bought meals at fast food outlets for himself and, on some occasions, paid for food and drinks for the staff who supported him’.

It said the spending was in line with the care providers’ current policy, so there was ‘no evidence of financial abuse and this was therefore not a safeguarding matter’.

Mr D was invited to raise the matter ‘as a complaint rather than a safeguarding matter’ if he continued to have concerns.

However, in a withering assessment of its handling of the complaint, the LGSCO found ‘fault in the council’s actions’.

The report states: “The council accepts that Mr E lacked capacity to manage his finances. He was very vulnerable to financial exploitation.

“I therefore do not understand why the council thought it was acceptable to have a policy which said that support staff could use Mr E’s money to pay for food without consulting Mr E’s parents or without any decision that this was in Mr E’s best interest.

“At the very least, the council should have informed Mr D and Mrs D of its intention and should have invited them to a best interest meeting so that a decision could be made on how this type of expenditure was dealt with.”

The LGSCO report goes on the highlight an inconsistency in the council’s claim that Mr E’s spending on carers’ meals was in line with the provider’s policy.

This, it points out, is at odds with the initial reponse which suggested that it would not have been acceptable – and evidence was needed to back up claims it had.
And the ombudsman also finds fault with the council’s response to Mr D in May 2020.

The report reads: “I agree that the matter may not have been a safeguarding concern if there was no evidence of financial abuse by the staff.

“However, that did not mean there was no fault in the actions of the care provider and the council’s complaint response should have addressed this.”

The LGSCO found further fault with the communication of Mr E’s care plan – which it transpired should provide him with 38 hours 2:1 care each week to allow him to access the community.

The ombudsman found it was ‘not clear, from the plan, how many hours of support Mr E was entitled to and how the budget was calculated’.

And it also criticised the council’s complaint response dated February 2020 as it ‘said the care plan did not specify the hours of 2:1 support, which was not true’.

A breakdown in communication on behalf of the care provider also led to a delay in administering medication, meaning Mr E suffered blocked ears and dry skin longer than he should have.

The council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the ombudsman’s decision:

• Apologise in writing to Mr D and Mr E for the faults.

• Check Mr E’s records for 2019 and find out the incidents when Mr E’s money was used to pay for staff members’ food and drink and reimburse Mr E with this amount.

• Pay Mr E £150 to reflect the injustice suffered by the poor care provided in relation to the medication.

• Contact any other resident/their representative who has been affected by the policy (payment of staff members’ food and drink) and inform them of the Ombudsman’s decision and ask them whether they wish to make a complaint.

Stockport council has been approached for comment.



Such Secrecy – TOWN CENTRE – M60 GATEWAY TASK FORCE

Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Thu, May 06, 2021 14:50


Werneth Area Committee

Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Thu, May 06, 2021 14:46

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=135&MId=27260&Ver=4



Usual Stockport Council Secrecy

Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Thu, May 06, 2021 14:33

We mustn’t be allowed to know what is going on with the Debenham’s site!

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/documents/g28006/Public%20reports%20pack%2006th-Apr-2021%2018.00%20Town%20Centre%20-%20M60%20Gateway%20Task%20Force.pdf?T=10



Town Centre – M60 Gateway Task Force

Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Thu, May 06, 2021 14:26

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=282&MId=28006&Ver=4



Stockport Local Access Forum

Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Thu, May 06, 2021 14:23

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=604&MId=27793&Ver=4



Stockport Family Partnership Board

Stockport Council Meetings Posted on Thu, May 06, 2021 14:21

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=1074&MId=27879&Ver=4



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