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Local Residents Defend The Greenbelt

Shocked resident heard of the extent of proposed Greenbelt loss in the revised GMSF on Saturday 2nd February 2019 at a meeting in Thornham Cricket Club.

Many were shocked to hear that the revised GMSF plan is still looking at taking a large area of local Greenbelt.

The local allocation [GM 2 Stakehill] if it goes ahead, will see the building of 900 new houses and an extra 250,000sq metres of industrial units swallowing up the fields around Chesham Estate, Slattocks and Stakehill. The area stretches across to Chadderton leaving a ‘corridor’ of Greenbelt between Thornham Lane and the A627M  link road.

Comment of the revised GMSF  – GMSF Consultation

View maps of the area   GMSF allocations map 2019

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Revised GMSF Consultation

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which comprises the 10 local Councils, will shortly publish the much awaited consultation to the revised GMSF.

Every local resident will be able to comment on the plan between 21st January until 18th March, a period of eight weeks.

Comments can be made online [details to follow] or in writing. 

Before you send in your comments

Please come along to our local community meeting:

Read what MPs representing Greater Manchester constituencies have to so about the revised plan:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/heres-what-your-mp-say-15652473

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Help Stop Fly Tipping

Anyone using the local lanes, footpaths and bridleways will have seen piles of fly tipping from time to time [see photos below]. Nobody likes it.

Usually it happens under cover of darkness so the perpetrators aren’t seen. We suspect most of this is done by:

 – unscrupulous builders who don’t want to pay at Council tips. 

–  drug growers needing to get rid of old plants.

For some reason, ordinary household waste is dumped – why?
Are people using a company vehicle to dump their household waste?

Local tips have long opening hours:
Rochdale waste disposal/recycling centres
Oldham waste disposal/recycling centres

 

Please take photos of fly tipping and a note of the location, then report it to the Council.

Depending on the location, click the Rochdale or Oldham link below:

Rochdale – Fly tipping

Oldham – Fly tipping

Further information :  Nation Fly Tipping Prevention Group

 

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A Breath of Fresh Air is Important

The need to get away from choked-up roads when we can is vital to protect our health and those of our families.

If there was ever the need to prove why local Greenbelt must be protected, then here it is.

Air Quality in Greater Manchester

But is the solution to introduce charging zones for traffic? 

Take a look at the Greater Manchester Clean Air Campaign  . The trouble with this is that it doesn’t include motorways.

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GMSF: Its Andy Burnham v Local Councils

For anyone who thought that the threat to Greenbelt locally and across GM had gone away, here’s proof that local Councils continue to want to use more of it.

This article    
Manchester Evening News.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/greater-manchester-spatial-framework
published 19 September 2018 may come as a surprise to many.

Following delays in publishing this draft of the GMSF, residents across GM were expecting to see it by November this year.

Does the apparent disagreements between Mayor Andy Burnham and the ten local Councils cast doubt on this date?

Following Andy Burnham’s appointment as GM Mayor, he told local councils to go back to the drawing board as he wanted to see a major rewrite of the GMSF. Many believe this was mainly because he recognised that opposition to it by GM residents was substantial and couldn’t be ignored.

Along side this, Rochdale Council have just published their Draft Site Allocations Plan (September 2018). This shows were they want local developments to be placed in the Borough with the vast majority being on brownfield sites and Town centres.

The MEN article specifically mentions Bury, Rochdale & Oldham as wanting to see a re-balancing of investment & development in GM towards these areas.

Whilst we cannot deny that homes & employment opportunities are needed, we strongly believe that building on Greenbelt is wholly wrong as it aims:

  • To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas
  • To prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another
  • To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment
  • To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns
  • To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.

The stated opportunities and benefits of Greenbelt include:

  • Providing opportunities for access to the open countryside for the urban population
  • Providing opportunities for outdoor sport and outdoor recreation near urban areas
  • The retention of attractive landscapes and the enhancement of landscapes, near to where people live
  • Improvement of damaged and derelict land around towns
  • The securing of nature conservation interests
  • The retention of land in agricultural, forestry and related uses.