Residents who live in the surrounding area of Bellway Homes' site on Campbell Road in Swinton, where it is erecting 241 houses, won a victory at today's planning panel of Salford City Council when an application for a sales office was rejected by councillors, by five votes to three.
Bellway wanted to erect a two storey sales office, to be open seven days a week with floodlighting, at the site but councillors heard accounts from residents of how the single access point into the site had already had a major detrimental impact on their lives.
Gordon, who has lived in the formerly peaceful cul-de-sac next door to the site for 46 years and is almost eighty years old, said he spends most of his time now at home..."I've had to endure noise, traffic and pollution, and there's no escape until 6pm and weekends when it all stops" he said, explaining that a sales office open seven days a week until 7pm would destroy any tranquillity at all.
Carol emphasised how residents had been ignored by Salford Council and legally threatened by Bellway Homes..."We're the human face of how Salford Council does its business" she said, adding that there had been a 29% increase in air pollution since the development began.
"This development should never have been passed in the first place, the single access doesn't work and this will make it worse" she said, again pointing to the long opening hours, the danger to pedestrians, the contamination and the seven year lifespan of the sales office, when the build itself is only four years.
Barry, who lives on Campbell Road, slammed councillors who supported the original Bellway application, "lining the pockets of fat cats and selling our community down the river". He urged the panel to "Listen to the voice of the people"...
Meanwhile, local councillor, Heather Fletcher, said the Bellway Homes site was the "most pressing and problematic" issue in the whole ward, with "residents' lives severely disrupted". She objected to the application on the grounds that the sales office would cause more noise and traffic problems; that the opening hours were too long; and that the office would be in place for seven years..."Residents will suffer further disruption and distress" she explained.
The representative of Bellway Homes said that councillors were not there to discuss the previous application that they passed, that the site of the sales office had already been remediated and that there were no technical objections put forward by planning officers.
Councillors then debated the application, with Bob Clarke saying that the application was "ill conceived", questioning how the public going to the sales office would be separated from the actual building site and whether they would be leaving the site with contaminated vehicles..."Will this be introducing a public hazard?" he asked.
Councillors discussed in detail possible traffic management plans and mitigation measures, including a three year lifespan for the sales office, no illumination of the site and restricted opening hours, with the Council's legal person trying to interpret what could and couldn't be done.
Councillor Derek Antrobus recommended that councillors should approve the application with conditions imposed, as it gave them some control over the site, while Councillor Bob Clarke and Councillor Jane Hamilton proposed outright rejection.
Chris Findley, the Council's Assistant Director of Planning and Housing, advised the councillors that they could either approve the application with conditions imposed, or reject it and risk Bellway appealing, which could lead to no conditions at all. Councillors chose to reject the application by five votes to three, due to unacceptable disruption to residents.
"It was a victory of sorts" said Carol Boyce of Saving Our Neighbourhood after the exhaustive meeting "It shows what the planning panel can do when they give themselves an opportunity to actually debate an issue. I think it was an empty victory because if they would have allowed that level of debate for the actual original application it would never have been passed, so it leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
"It's how the planning panel can operate when they've got the will to; and they've got the will to because it doesn't really matter now" she added "They're foxing around the edges but what difference is it going to make at the end of the day?"
The decision was, however, yet another thorn in the developer's side...
For a full background see previous Salford Star articles...
Swinton Residents Hold Santa Protest To Defy Bellway Homes Legal Threats click here
Bellway Homes Threatens Residents With Legal Injunctions and Fines click here
Campbell Road residents Stage Protest Against Salford Council and Bellway Homes click here
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