PLANS FOR GREEN LANE SITE MUST MATCH SALFORD COUNCIL & GOVERNMENT POLICY ON LAND USE
Site currently allocated for employment use and listed in emerging waste plan for Greater Manchester
Developer welcomes Hazel Blears’ assistance on dialogue with council and local residents
Sky Properties’ current proposals to develop a waste and recycling Eco Park on Green Lane in Salford have attracted a lot of attention and generated a great deal of debate locally over what the site should be used for.
The owners of the land have previously submitted a number of schemes for consideration, including a planning application for residential development that was refused by Salford Council, a decision that was upheld by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in 2007 following an appeal.
Salford Council – supported by the Government – has made it clear that the site must be used for industrial employment purposes and has encouraged Sky Properties to consider waste management options for the site.
Sky Properties’ Anthony Hirsch said: "We know there are quite a few people locally who have automatically opposed the proposals for the Green Lane Eco Park, but we are reassured that so many local residents have taken such a keen interest and came along to the meeting we organised last month to find out more.
“One hundred and thirty people turned out. I attempted to explain the myriad of schemes that have been considered for the Green Lane site over recent years and at great expense. However, we clearly need to talk about previous schemes and future options in more detail and plan to do this through establishing a Community Liaison Group.”
Salford MP Hazel Blears has offered to broker a meeting with the Council to explore these issues and look at alternative uses, and Sky is working closely with the MP to make this happen. But, Hirsch added, it seems highly unlikely that the Council or the Government would overturn their previous decisions to reserve the land for industrial and employment use.
“As a developer, you have to look at what's best from a land use planning perspective first, then from a commercial perspective. The overwhelming evidence is that the site has been set aside for industrial use and is supported as a site for waste management. However, I look forward to meeting the council with Hazel Blears to explore options as a first step,” added Hirsch.
Site history
Sky acquired the land in 2003 as the former home of the Mitchell & Shackleton engineering company. The company had relocated to Green Lane in 1908, where Ernest Mitchell joined forces with Edwin Shackleton to create a globally-successful crankshaft manufacturing and repair company. The rich industrial heritage of the area also includes James Nasmyth (inventor of the steam hammer), whose ironworks later became the Royal Ordinance Factory before Green Lane became an industrial park.
At the time of the acquisition 2003, other industrial occupiers Plasticon, North West Forge, Paul Gardner Engineering and Levertech were operational on the site, with the attendant traffic and environmental impacts they brought.
Sky Properties has previously sought planning permission for environmentally-friendly houses on the site. In 2006, Salford Council refused planning permission for an application for housing on the Green Lane site, and an appeal to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (then Hazel Blears) was rejected, upholding the Council’s decision to protect the site’s designation for employment use.
Other proposals put forward for the site, including offices, warehousing and leisure uses, were not deemed in accordance with the Council’s Unitary Development Plan policy seeking to maintain an adequate supply of employment land.
Subsequently, the site has been listed as suitable for waste management in the emerging Greater Manchester Joint Waste Development Plan Document.
Considerable work has been carried out by Sky Properties to make the land safe over the past few years, including clearing it of toxic substances, demolishing unsafe structures and making it secure from unwanted attention from travellers and vandals.
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