Pauline Atkinson, of the Save Our Duncan Matheson Playing Field campaign is under no illusions...
"We need to stand up, and the whole of Salford needs to stand up en mass, descend on that town hall and tell them 'You're not on'" she says "I think that's what people should be working on, not just for this field but to maintain what we've got. We're going to have nothing. They've completely wrecked Salford..."
Around a quarter of the Duncan Matheson Playing Field, off Lancaster Road, is owned by Salford City Council, with the rest belonging to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester. And it was last year when horrified residents discovered that there were plans to build around five hundred houses over the whole site, via a'concept map'.
A public meeting was held in February 2017, actually called by local Claremont councillors, and over four hundred people turned up to hear politicians declare their opposition...
"We had a meeting with Rebecca Long-Bailey and the Mayor, and he said that he wouldn't allow any building on the field and that was fine" Pauline recalls "He actually did a statement...but there was a little rider saying he might allow some development..."
The argument was that if a certain amount of building wasn't allowed, Government inspectors would be brought in and they would allow the full development. But residents are having none of it...
"I know that if you allow one house to be built it changes the policy of the land, and they can start with, say, forty or one hundred houses but as soon as you've allowed that, other builders could come in" Pauline adds "So we said 'No', after we'd asked residents and explained the situation.
"We had a further meeting with the Mayor and Rebecca Long-Bailey last October, and the Mayor stood up and stated that he wouldn't be opposed to building houses on the Council land" she says.
The City Mayor doesn't actually have any power or say over planning (in theory), so shouldn't really be getting involved. But what about the local councillors? "If you read their flyers it states that they're doing this and that" says campaigner Steven Healey "But they aren't ..."
"They're supporting us by saying 'We want to save Duncan Matheson Playing Field' but they're not actually doing anything to support what they're saying" Pauline explains "I don't blame them to a certain extent because what I know of the Labour Party you've got to toe the line. But we're not for 'toeing the line' or being told what we should accept."
Behind the public posturing, Pauline says she's found proof that the Council has been in discussions with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester since 2015 and possibly before...
"We know that the Council looked at selling its part of the field in 2014 for development" she says "And we know that they checked it with their legal department, which said 'No you can't do that because of strict restrictions on use of the land'..."
She has also found a similar statement in the 2016 accounts for the Greater Manchester Trust for Recreation, the overall body for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester. It states "The trustees do not consider that the field has any significant value as yet, given the strict land use restrictions placed upon them"...
Indeed, there's covenants covering the fields, as well being green space, but it seems that both the Council and the charity are trying to find ways around it all, from not maintaining the land to charging rates, which alters agreements almost one hundred years old...
"In 2006, Salford did a Green Space Strategy and this area was classified as deficient in public access to recreation, while De La Salle and Duncan Matheson were classified as playing fields much used" says Steven "However in a new survey in 2017, Duncan Matheson and De La Salle weren't even included as green space.
"I stood up at Community Committee and asked 'When is a green space not a green space?'" he adds "They said it was 'disused'. I asked if it was going back in the Strategy and all I got told was that it's not been published yet. They won't tell me what's going on and that's totally wrong. This is a breathing space for the city that they're getting rid of slowly; we need more trees and spaces, not less."
No official proposal has been put forward yet for the playing fields but residents are gearing up for a huge fight. Already, over 4,100 people have signed a paper petition opposing development, a solicitor is on board and a fighting fund has been set up*. They are fighting on the grounds of everything from playing field and green space destruction, to harming wildlife, to pollution and potential traffic chaos...
"Salford is just being turned into a big building site and car park" says Pauline "We really do need to stand up and say 'You're not on!'...
Save Our Duncan Matheson Playing Field Public Meeting
Thursday 26th April 7pm
De La Salle Sports Club, Lancaster Road
For further details of the meeting see the Facebook event page – click here
For further details of the Save Our Duncan Matheson Playing Field campaign see the Facebook group page – click here
To help the fighting fund email info@sodm.co.uk
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