A PROPOSED housing scheme branded ‘disgusting’ by one Tameside councillor is ‘not going to happen.’
Independent Barrie Holland voiced his concerns at what he called a ‘scoping exercise’ as talk 400 homes will be built on green belt land in the Littlemoss area of Droylsden gathers pace.
Local opposition is already growing, even though no formal submission has yet been made, with colleague Cllr Ged Cooney also against.
Cllr Holland told Tameside’s full council meeting on Tuesday, October 6: “Cllr Cooney and I, as Droylsden members, will diametrically oppose this disgraceful scheme.”
However, the man in charge of homes in the borough, Cllr Andrew McLaren, was emphatic as he tried to ease fears.
He responded: “There are absolutely no plans to build on that plot of land. It’s not going to happen.
“It’s not in the local plan and it’s in green belt, the most protected area of Tameside.”
Cllr McLaren’s statement came on a night when planning matters dominated a seven-hour session.
And his assertion over green belt will no doubt prick the ears of those opposed to the Godley Green Garden Village development.
There was also a caveat inserted into the debate – if previously developed brownfield sites cannot be fully unlocked and developed to meet Tameside’s housing needs, the local plan may be looked at.
Cllr McLaren added: “Our local plan excludes any further green belt development, but we can’t stop a developer putting in an application to try to test the local plan.
“What’s really important is if we don’t develop out sites we’ve identified and those schemes don’t go forward, eventually other areas might be tested by developers.
“We have to be cognisant that if we don’t permit responsible development and don’t meet our housing needs, then we might have to revisit the local plan.”
The Correspondent told how Tameside councillors voted down imposing the government’s derided National Scheme of Delegation (NSoD), which aims to change how planning applications are decided.
Opponents feel it takes the local out of local democracy, but Cllr McLaren told of the legal and financial implications of the decision, as well as time.
For members will have to come back and debate it again, otherwise from October 31, Tameside Council will be breaking the law.
He continued: “I’ve heard the passion and if I was making this speech as a ward councillor, it might be slightly different.
“But I’m not. I’m making it as deputy leader of the council that I’m proud to be until the residents decide that I’m no longer the person they want to represent them.
“There’s 40 years of failure in social housing and house building. People are suffering trauma in our borough. There’s a whole spectrum of housing we need to build.
“It’s well-founded criticism and I understand the principles because I’m not stupid, I understand that people feel it does reduce local democracy.
“But we’re elected members and we have a responsibility to obey the law. It’s a really difficult decision to make, but we are obliged under the law to make that decision.
“We can keep playing ping-pong with this, but ultimately this has to be passed encase that’s the edict form parliament and parliament is sovereign.
“People might not like that, but that’s the way this works. It’s tough, it’s difficult but with power and influence come responsibility.
“If we don’t go through with this, from October 31 we’ll have an impasse. We can all go back to our houses and sit there quite comfortably and say, ‘I’m standing on the rock of principle’ but we’ll have a situation where we’ll be letting down our residents.
“And it’ll cost the council thousands and thousands.”
Even chair of council business, Cllr Joe Kitchen, hit out at the imposition of the NSoD, saying: “Governments don’t do council favours, they rarely do.
“I’m not bothered about whether developers’ schemes get delayed or not, what bothers me is the residents we represent.”