At this morning's meeting of Salford Council planning panel, councillors expressed grave concerns about building houses and an allotment right beside the M602 motorway in Pendleton, on the site of the old Amersham Street.
The application by SP+ and Lovell Partnerships, part of the Pendleton PFI project led by Salford City Council and Pendleton Together, was to build 127 houses on the site, of which only 17 would be affordable (for a full background see previous Salford Star article click here), but Councillor Bob Clarke tore into the plans, for the lack of affordable housing, the air quality management and pollution hitting the allotment...
"It's in the public realm that that motorway is particularly dangerous for emissions and again we're putting people next to a dangerous situation, and I don't think it's acceptable" he said, noting that Highways England are to enforce a 60mph limit on that stretch of motorway to reduce pollution, and the court case a few weeks ago in which a young girl died of air pollution.
Planning officers stated that the site lies partially within an Air Quality Management area and that 'detailed dispersion modelling' showed that there wouldn't be any exceedance of nitrogen dioxide levels, as 'concentrates diminish rapidly' the further away from the motorway you go.
"I work on the motorways and see the damage that motorway fall-out does and it's not just a couple of metres it can be tens of metres of the pollutants that fall down which rots things" Councillor Clarke explained "Most structures on the motorways have to have seven layers of paint on them to withstand the pollutants that are discharged.
"Personally I would not eat anything that was grown anywhere near that" he added "...it's not good enough to have people growing their own fruit and veg next to the M602 with the pollutants that fall out of the sky."
The planning officer responded that the M602 is 5 or 6 metres lower that the site and the allotments have a two metre containing wall which increases the distance from the car exhausts and the receptors, while Panning Panel Chair, Councillor Ray Mashiter, said that the allotment boat "has already sailed" as it was agreed in outline in 2012, and that the air quality management of the scheme was "policy compliant".
"It's disgraceful" said Councillor Clarke "I work on motorway structures some of which are 25 metres in the air and pollution rots equipment, and can affect structures 30 to 40 metres away from the roadside...and yet you expect people to have an allotment there. It's utter nonsense and you should listen to someone who works in that environment...It's not good enough to let people eat food from there...I'm absolutely appalled."
Other councillors also had concerns about air quality, with Councillor Lewis Nelson arguing that he couldn't see any mitigating measures against air pollution, apart from electric vehicle charging points on properties.
He also, along with Councillor Karen Garrido, had concerns about the level of affordable housing on the site, with just 17 affordable properties out of 127 in this application, which he denounced as "severely disappointing"...despite officers arguing that there were 42 affordable properties elsewhere on the Phase 3 site.
The application was eventually passed with three councillors voting against, one abstaining and eight in favour.
Meanwhile, at yesterday's full meeting of Salford City Council, there was a full blown row, which continued onto social media, over the Council's Local Plan which amongst other things designates the amount of land for development in the city.
With no Greater Manchester Spatial Framework in sight, the Council produced a draft of the first part of a Local Plan but following objections from developers and land owners, and advice from a respected planning barrister, ten sites listed for designation as Local Green Spaces were deferred from the first phase of the Plan as they could be challenged under the National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF.
The sites are...The Meadow, Broughton; Brickfield Wood, Walkden; Three Sisters, Eccles; Blackleach Country Park, Walkden; Roe Green, Worsley; Land at Beesley Green and Kempnough Brook, Worsley; Worsley Woods, Old Warke Dam and Aviary Field, Worsley; Broadoak South, Worsley; Dukes Drive, Worsley and Worsley Green, Worsley.
After arguing in the chamber that the Council would be "jeopardising green spaces", the Salford Conservative Party put out a press release stating that "At a meeting of the full Council this morning the Labour controlled Council approved only a partial 'Local Plan' and importantly decided to omit the following green spaces from the protection of the 'Local Plan' [see list above]...
"Labour were asked to provide details of housing, development and growth but despite these figures and information being available they failed to do so meaning that they could not comply with the NPPF" it added "We have also been told that one of the reasons they have been omitted is because they have bowed to objections to them being included from a major local landowner and other developers this is a disgrace. The only ones to speak in favour of protecting these green spaces were yet again the Conservatives and we have pledged to keep up this fight and to now press for a second part to the Local Plan to include the above spaces, to be submitted as soon as possible..."
In response, Councillor Derek Antrobus posted: "Imagine my incredulity when I saw the Tory press release saying they were the only ones to speak up for our green spaces. This was a falsehood as anyone who saw the debate can tell. In fact the legal advice was that the Tory solution would weaken our protection. Out goes Donald Trump with his fake news and in come Salford Tories with theirs..."
Oh dear, it looks like the local election starting pistol has been fired...
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