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by Lib Dem team on 30 September, 2009
About three weeks ago we asked for your opinions on an idea to have a convenience store and car park on the old Tatton cinema site (instead of the convenience store and care home idea, rejected by the Council a few months ago).
In total, we received 81 replies. 40 were in favour of the proposal, 38 against and three expressed no opinion.
If we can find a proposal which the site’s owners are willing to look at and there’s clear support among Gatley residents, I will pursue it. In this case, fewer than half of those who responded were in favour of this particular proposal.
We will, of course, continue to work positively to find a good solution, but I won’t be pressing for this solution.
I said in my last piece that the developers still have the opportunity to appeal against the rejection of the previous proposal (convenience store and care home). Several people have asked me to explain how this works in more detail.
Stockport Council has rejected the planning application. By law, any rejected application can be taken to appeal with the Planning Inspectorate. If that happens, the developers and the Council each put their cases and the Inspectorate decides whether or not to overturn the decision.
Should the Planning Inspectorate decide to overturn a decision (which it often does), there’s nothing more the Council, local councillors or even an MP can do. Frustrating as it often is, the law is clear.
Earlier this year, Cllr Brian Millard worked hard to represent the will of the majority of local people and put a strong case that the proposal should be rejected, which it was. Should the developers appeal (they have until the end of the year to decide), I will work with Council officers and argue our case as best I can in front of the Planning Inspector, but the final decision will not be ours to make.
Our challenge as councillors is to work with the Council, the site’s owners and local people to find a solution for the site that enhances Gatley, whilst knowing that it could be taken completely out of our hands.
Alongside Pam, I will continue to fight for a positive outcome and to keep you informed of developments.
3 Comments
I do not remember you or anyone else asking my opinion over the Tatton site development.
My idea for the site is a community centre run by a joint commitee from thr councli and certain Gatley residents. Iam in favour of a car park.
Alan – in addition to the post on the blog, we managed to deliver leaflets across a good chunk of Gatley in early September.
Since the site is privately owned, the owner/developer can come up with proposals. The Council isn’t currently in a position to buy the site, as I understand it.
[…] nothing new to report on the Tatton beyond my last posting, but I wanted to say that it’s something all your councillors are working hard on right now […]