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by Lib Dem team on 6 December, 2013
For some time I have been working on a project to bring a new leisure centre and nearly 300 new houses to Brinnington, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Stockport. As councillors we have a responsibility for the whole of Stockport and this is a very important project that will make a real difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
The new leisure centre, planned to be built on Brinnington Park and replacing the ageing and increasingly tatty Lapwing Centre, will offer all the facilities currently available at the Lapwing and more. The 292 new houses will not be social housing, but a mixture of different housing and tenure types, giving Brinnington residents the ability – when they wish – to move out of social housing and into private housing without moving away from their friends, relatives and local neighbourhood.
All these plans come from consultations with Brinnington residents that started in 2009 and have continued since – most recently with a consultation in the last few months showing strong support for the new leisure centre.
As the Council prepares to submit planning applications for the leisure centre and housing, find out how to have your say here.
Why build on Reddish Vale Country Park?
Brinnington is quite a unique neighbourhood, bordered by the M60 on two sides and Reddish Vale Country Park on the other two. In order to make the proposal for housing and the leisure centre stack up financially, we need to have the 292 houses – many fewer and the housing won’t be viable; and with no housing neither will a leisure centre of the scale we want to build.
The Council started off looking at every possible location to build and found six within the current area of Brinnington, but that left us about 60 houses short. Reluctantly, we agreed to build on 0.8% of Reddish Vale Country Park – the area immediately behind Blackberry Lane in Brinnington. This is exceptional and a one-off, and wouldn’t be considered if there were a viable alternative. There isn’t. If we want the new leisure centre and housing, we need to build on this one small area of the Country Park.
Will there be any further building on the Country Park?
No – we have no plans for any further building on any of Stockport’s parks. This limited proposal is only going ahead because of the unique geography of Brinnington meaning it’s necessary if the scheme is to go ahead. We’re also making planning policy changes to secure the future (larger) boundary of the country park – see below.
Is there mitigation proposed to the Country Park?
Yes. We’ve spent a lot of time talking to the parks groups and, whilst I fully accept many people are never going to be happy with the decision we’ve made, a lot has been done to mitigate the effects of the development. This includes:
Have Councillors taken the decision knowing the facts?
Campaigners who oppose the new housing and leisure centre in favour of keeping the 1.3 hectares of Reddish Vale Country Park undeveloped have claimed that councillors didn’t realise the land was in Reddish Vale Country Park when the decision was taken.
I’ve argued strongly that no-one has been misled and I think the evidence supports that, but the debate has since moved on. Over three Full Council meetings, and through strong lobbying, every single councillor has been left in no doubt as to the status of the park and the arguments on both sides.
Knowing those arguments, a clear majority of councillors – including all three local Brinnington councillors – not to mention Ann Coffey, the Stockport MP – have come out in favour of the proposals. Had councillors from any party wished to reverse the decision, they could have brought a motion to any of the last three Full Council meetings to do just that, but no-one did.
6 Comments
how can you justify this building plan? There is so much leisure available in the open countryside …we don’t need it. And as for housing, there’s loads of areas where there is just open waste land within the borough of Stockport. It’s the equivalent to building houses in Bramhall Park!! And you wouldn’t even dream of doing that would you?
Leave the people of Reddish, Brinningtin and Stockport somewhere to escape to ….please!
Now, I do not need to tell you that your article is full of half-truths, but maybe that is what politics is all about? I attended the meetings you describe and your description differs from my recollections. It is strange that you do not mention the proposals for the metrolink that will fall within the Country Park boundary. You must also be aware that the councillors from Reddish and the Heatons managed to get a small say, that small say only coming due to the pressure from the groups protesting. The Reddish councillors would not have had any say whatsoever without this albeit that this “say” was only allowed to be a “recommendation” and not form any part of the actual decision. Maybe not remarkably the Reddish and Heatons “recommended” against the proposals but that was as much as they were allowed to say on the matter. I hope that this comment actually makes it onto your page unedited.
Do u mean the actual children’s park is going to be removed if so is there going to be a new one built somewhere
The councillors have not listened to the residents how many of them are local to brinnington and have a rite to decide these things one thing for shore is it’s wrong to hold a community to ransom in this way we will build you a sports centre if you let us fill our bank account you don’t deserve my vote and you won’t be getting it you should hang your heads in shame
I have on DVD Sue Derbyshire stating that she realised that the site of the 1.3 hectares was inside the Country Park boundary in July 2013( after I had published it in the Stockport Express). That was when all of the councillors realised it and Andy Verdeille stated made the comment “not one blade of grass etc..” He was a Tame Valley councillor by the way. None of the executive of the council are. They are a disgrace to democracy. The new Leisure Centre is to replace the one where they will be building houses. They could have built it on the same spot instead of Green Belt land. Yes that also is taking Green Belt.
I have lived in Brinnington since 2005 and bought my house because of the lovely green belt land opposite. Since moving here I have not been consulted of any plans to build, except within the last couple of months. My neighbours also hadn’t heard anything from the Council with regard to new builds. Its a disgrace that none of the actual people living opposite the Blackberry Lane site havent been consulted until the last minute when planning permission had already been put in. Its alright saying you are adding to Reddish Vale and that the Council are making a specific commitments to protect the boundaries of Reddish Vale – How long will that last. The Council were supposed to protect the Green Belt land we already had and adding an extra bit somewhere else doesn’t help the residents who live opposite the new build site – we have still lost it. I am not opposed to the other building work planned but I strongly object to the work opposite Blackberry Lane. There is plenty of deralict open space which are currently used as dumping grounds that could have been used instead. . Is the Council going to extend the local doctors as it is very hard now to get an appointment and will be impossible when the extra residents arrive – has anyone thought of this? The Council is elected by the people to work for them – not against. How can they ignore the thousands on the petition against the building on Blackberry Lane. I for one wont be voting for any of them. I will be wanting compensation for this loss and for all the increased traffic and disruption this will cause.and will not rest until it is achieved