LAND at Brookfields in Mossley is subject of yet another application to build houses – but those behind it insist they have listened to residents.
After schemes that would have seen 21 then 18 properties constructed on the land, Clements Court Properties and the Millson Group have gone back to Tameside Council.
This proposal would see only nine, five-bedroomed homes put on the area by February 2024.
And Essex-based Clements Court, through Manchester-based Millson, has made it clear residents who battled so hard to prevent the previous applications going ahead have had their voices heard.
However, Mossley councillors Taf Sharif and Stephen and Jack Homer remain opposed.
They said: “Most of you know that over the years we have been fighting off many applications on this piece of land, with it losing at appeal also.
“The applicant is not stopping at any cost and neither shall we. We need people to write in with objections, the ones from 2020 still stand.”
Documents for the application detailed just how the backlash – and refusal of an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate – changed Clements Court’s thinking.
New loading bays and extra parking space for those living next to the site, which will be accessed from Archer Street, are among their offerings.
They state: “Having assessed the reasons for the refusal and the findings of the unsuccessful appeal decision, the applicants have significantly re-designed and reduced the density of the proposed housing scheme from 21 dwellings down to nine.
“They have acquired some more land adjacent to the site to improve the access and servicing provision for construction traffic and deliveries, and they are also offering some dedicated parking provision for the local residents on Brookfields and Stamford Road who would be potentially the most affected and inconvenienced by the works during the construction phase.
“The loading bay off Stamford Road has been redesigned so that vehicles can easily enter and exit the loading area and it is also proposed to widen the facility.
“Nine dedicated car parking bays are also being created to replace the spaces that would be lost in the area where vehicles currently park illegally on the wide area of footpath.
“The applicant has acquired the land which links the development site directly to the adopted section of Brookfields at its junction with Egerton Street and Stamford Road.
“This will allow the very heavy plant and equipment to be delivered directly into the site without using either the Stamford Rd loading area or Mill Lane.
“So that the residents of 3 and 5 Brookfields, who currently park on the adopted section of Brookfields, are not inconvenienced by the plant deliveries, it is also proposed to provide a dedicated parking facility for them on the land behind their properties.
“This car park will provide the residents with six dedicated spaces and facility to manoeuvre their vehicles.
“The applicant also proposes to carry out significant improvements to the existing single width highway at the end of Spring Street, Vernon Street and Archer Street by widening it to double width including the provision of a pedestrian footway and making it up to an adoptable standard.
“Fifteen off road parking spaces will also be formed off this link road for the benefit of the local residents to use.”
Tameside Council’s Speakers Panel (Planning) committee will decide whether to grant or reject planning permission but Mossley’s councillors have already made a request for it to be heard at a meeting, giving them the opportunity to speak.
STOP BUILDING IN MOSSLEY.
I’m not against building more houses in theory, but the big problem is the surrounding infrastructure. Most of Mossley, Stalybridge, and Ashton is akin to a car park at peak hours anyway, as there’s ever more cars on the road and everywhere is only 1 lane in each direction. More people living here would not help this in any way. It’s not just roads, either. School places are also already extremely limited, you can’t even get a phone appointment with the doctor for 2 weeks then it’s another 3+ weeks before you can get a face-to-face appointment.
Even if houses HAD to be built in Mossley, Brookfields is not the place to do it. The land is well-used by walkers and the access is horrendous. Coming out at the top of Brooklands would not be safe as you’d be having to cross traffic that you can’t see coming, and getting out via Spring St / Archer St / Vernon St is no better. The developers saying they will “carry out significant improvements to the existing single width highway at the end of Spring Street, Vernon Street and Archer Street by widening it to double width” is a throwaway comment. How does that help the fact that this extra traffic would still then have to go along one of those roads – which are some of the narrowest in Mossley? Of all the possible bits of land in Mossley that houses could theoretically be built on (regardless of if it is available or not), I can’t think of anywhere less suitable! Next they’ll be talking about building houses at Buckton Castle!