A NEW primary school will be included in the controversial Godley Green Garden Village development.
And nearby Alder Community High School can expect a ‘significant expansion’ if the go-ahead is given for the 2,150 homes.
There are also many concerns about the impact of the scheme on the current infrastructure – roads, schools, doctors’ surgeries – if, as Tameside Council hopes, it becomes reality.
Now leader of the authority, Councillor Brenda Warrington, has revealed the education part of the plan.
She said: “We’ve undertaken a comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary school capacity in the area.
“This concluded that while more secondary school places would be required in the early stages to mitigate the impact of Godley Green, additional primary school capacity will not be required until the work is near completion.
“We’re in talks with Alder about a significant expansion of their facilities and an entirely new one-form primary school has been earmarked for construction within the development.”
An application for outline planning permission has been submitted but the final say on whether it goes ahead will be down the Secretary of State for Housing, Michael Gove MP.
Godley Green would be split across two villages, divided by Godley Brook, with 1,250 dwellings planned in the west and 900 in the east.
The western village comprises of a local centre, education and sports provision cluster, while the eastern includes a centre with a community hall and cycle hub, a multi-user bridge connection to Hattersley, and sports complex to the south of Mottram Old Road.
Godley Green is supported with a £10 million grant from Home England while Electricity North West is also getting supporting ambitions for a zero carbon and green new community.
Project lead, Cllr Ged Cooney, said: “We have to build more houses in Tameside and Godley Green is the best place for them.
“However, as I’ve said many times before, we’re not looking to throw up a concrete estate.
“Godley Green is a once in a generation opportunity to create a genuinely landscape led garden settlement that integrates with the existing communities as well as the rural surroundings, to provide new homes, employment, retail, social infrastructure, community and leisure facilities.
“This will be a garden village featuring high-quality housing with 15 per cent of it classed as affordable. That’s far more than the national target.
“The ambition is to be carbon neutral using a range of innovative sustainability measures. There will be a huge amount of green infrastructure including heat pumps and vehicle charging points.
“In total, we’ll be building on just 2.5 per cent of the borough’s green belt and whereas only one per cent of Godley Green is currently accessible, 50 per cent would be with delivery of the development.
“Godley Green will also be hugely significant in boosting growth and recovery of the local economy particularly in Hyde Town centre and Hattersley, resulting in the creation of over 550 job per year across a range of sectors spanning 15 years.
“If the council does not drive this project forward now, significant benefits for the borough would be lost and I’m confident that If people take the time to study what we’re proposing, they’ll agree with me.”
Environmental concerns, with many objectors citing the fact Godley Green is green belt land, were also addressed by Cllr Warrington.
The Brookfold Wood and Werneth Brook areas, which contain ancient woodland, will stay, as well as all Category A and 92 per cent of Category B trees.
Those claiming brownfield sites should be developed first were given a simple answer – there is not enough of it.
Cllr Warrington added: “Our latest strategic housing and land economic availability assessment has concluded that not only is there no existing site in the borough that can accommodate a project on the scale of Godley Green, but also that all of the brownfield sites in the borough combined would still be insufficient to meet our projected housing need that has been set by the Government.
“Furthermore, the footprint of the development encompasses only 2.5 per cent of Tameside’s total green belt land. Of this, 50 per cent of the site has been earmarked for green infrastructure.”
- Cover image looking over Godley Green via Tameside Captured and Claire Elliot
Absolutely disgusting. The state of the planet and most people trying to do their best to preserve green space. Not Tameside Council. Building on greenbelt is the lowest of the low. What a dreadful message to the next generation, who are fighting so hard to save our green spaces. Shame on the council for their short sighted greed.
Disgusting is all I can say. Building on green built should be the very last option. I don’t believe there is not enough Brown sites. The infrastructure in Hyde is poor, not enough schools, doctors or dentists. The traffic is already bad, this will just make it worse. Godley train station doesn’t even have access for disabled people. Hyde markets has been run down by the council and the millions spent to renovate the library, which now stands empty is just another prime example of how our council mismanage money.