OLDHAM BATTERIES UPDATE - Sending to residents today. Apologies for the length of the post: I wanted to write to let you know that Langtree Group has now formally submitted an outline planning application for housing on the Oldham Batteries site in Denton. You can view the application online on the Tameside Council website: tameside.gov.uk/planning and the application reference number is: 14/01149/OUT The top and bottom of it all is they are applying for up to 150 houses on the main Oldham Batteries site. Remember they already have permission for 67 homes on the smaller site between Edward Street and the back of Osborne Road, so thats 217 new homes in total! Crucially, there will be no link road. The public consultation period runs from 8th December until 29th December, and if I was being cynical Id say theyd put the application in now because theyll hope not many people will object over the Christmas period (given the fright they got at the strength of public opinion during their event at Denton Methodist Church a few weeks ago). You can object online using the link above, or in writing to: Planning Department, Tameside MBC, Wellington Road, Ashton under Lyne OL6 6DL (quoting the reference number: 14/01149/OUT). My own objections will be in some detail but will centre around the following planning points: ---- 1) the site has been identified in the Councils various development plans as being suitable for employment, retail and leisure use. It is a key site within a defined town centre and ought to be developed along the lines identified in the former Unitary Development Plan, the current Development Framework and the emerging Core Strategy, and indeed in line with the planning consent: 08/00430/REM. Tameside continues to lose much of its employment land, and particularly sites of strategic importance, and the loss of this major site to housing is therefore unnecessary. The land is not identified in the boroughs assessment of land required to meet future housing need, and therefore should be retained for employment use to support the regeneration of Denton Town Centre. 2) the former use of this site for over a century for industrial battery production makes it unsuitable without extensive (and the fullest possible) land remediation for family homes. Land contamination will mean that the removal and replacement of soil to a suitable depth will be necessary, along with an appropriate membrane being installed. The Council will also need to consider whether the removal of future permitted development rights is required so that no extensions can be built (and the land disturbed) without adequate monitoring and assessed for safety. Further planning restrictions may also be required to prevent the growing of fruit and vegetables in the gardens to prevent ground pollutants from entering the food chain. 3) without the link road the development will create extensive traffic problems on the local and strategic road network. The developer seriously underestimates the amount of traffic the development will generate in order to justify not constructing the link road, which was a requirement of the previous retail-led scheme. A conservative estimate of one car per dwelling (with 217 new homes in total being built on either side of Edward Street) would mean an additional 217 cars accessing Edward Street. A fair comparison with neighbouring estates would safely see at least two (400+) and often more than two, cars per household (600+). This will cause substantial problems at the Hyde Road/Edward Street junction which already queues at peak times; a further set of traffic lights will impact massively on the functionality of Crown Point junction and the A57; there almost certainly will be an increase in rat-running from the new estates through the residential areas to the north of the M67 (Edward Street, York Road, Tame Street, St Annes Road, Sandbrook Way, etc.) in order to avoid the Hyde Road junction. 4) no solution has been brought forward by the developer for the blight they have caused at the Ashton Road end of the site, where the former Coop building was sought for the construction of the link road, previously required for the retail-led application. The building is subject to a Compulsory Purchase Order option, which was requested by Langtree Group, but never drawn down. Since the granting of the CPO powers, this prominent building has been stripped of its roof and internal fittings and is now left derelict. Langtrees actions have therefore unnecessarily blighted a key gateway to the Denton Town Centre, from the motorway junction. Both the Council and the owner should seek some redress from Langtree to bring the site visually into a condition befitting the entrance to the boroughs second town. ---- Clearly you might have further points you want to raise, but lets show the strength of feeling in Denton that we want the very best for our town, and wont be ridden roughshod over by the antics of developers like Langtree. With very best wishes for Christmas and the new year, Yours sincerely ANDREW GWYNNE MP Labour - Denton and Reddish
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:46:28 +0000
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