The Save Roughfields group has gathered support from three political parties in its attempt to keep the 'green space' between Hadfield and Padfield forever green.
Members were joined on the land bordering Padfield Main Road by High Peak Conservative MP Robert Largan, Padfield ward’s Labour borough councillor Ollie Cross and the Green Party’s Robert Hodgetts-Haley. High Peak Mayor and Hadfield Ward’s Labour councillor Ed Kelly also supports the group but was unable to be there.
Save Roughfields Steering Group said they had organised the get-together to voice a joint effort to save Roughfields and to protect local green spaces, adding that it ‘marked a great step forward as we gain voices in both local and national government.’
In a prepared statement, the group added: “We at Save Roughfields are emboldened by recent events, and by the surge in support from both our community and local government.
“The fact that this issue is receiving support from a bipartisan platform reinforces our point that this cause is driven by the opinions of local residents as they strive to save their green spaces.
“Every week we find further evidence to support our argument, our members grow, and we make even more clear the fact that this community wants to preserve this land for future generations, after all, we can’t make more land.”
Mr Largan said: “Roughfields is a much-loved green space for local people in Hadfield and Padfield.
“I live locally in Glossop. I am very concerned about the scale of housebuilding in the area, and the subsequent pressure on our infrastructure and public services.
“I’m disappointed that High Peak Borough Council has included Roughfields in their Accelerated Housing Delivery Programme, with the apparent intention of selling Roughfields to a private developer.
“Britain is facing a housing shortage. New homes are needed. But they need to be built in the right places, with the infrastructure and public services in place to cope.
“I sincerely hope High Peak Borough Council listens to Save Roughfields, and rethinks its ‘accelerated’ plans.”
The Save Roughfields campaign poster
Robert Hodgetts-Haley told the Chronicle: “The Covid pandemic has illustrated just how important local green spaces are for the health and well-being of our community.
“We believe that building on Roughfields would be hugely damaging for the people of Hadfield and Padfield.
“Not only would the increased traffic put too much pressure on our roads and local services, but residents would lose access to a well loved and valuable open space.”
Cllr Cross said: “Thank you to every single local resident who has taken the time to contact me over the past few weeks to express their heartfelt concerns regarding the prospect of future development on our last easily accessible local green space in this part of Hadfield and how much Roughfields means to them.
“On a personal level, I have received 143 emails and 58 letters in total. I’m pleased to say that I have responded to every single email and nearly all the letters.
“We have discussed a number of strong reservations regarding the prospect of future development on Roughfields and the tremendous pressure the council is under at great length over the past few weeks.
“It seems like councils across the country are left to bat on a sticky wicket when it comes to planning.
“If a council fails to show that it has a five-year supply of land for housing, then they will be penalised and a local authority may even lose control over the location of future development if they fail to meet those targets.
“I warmly welcome the fact that there is cross-party support, as ultimately party politics has very little to do with planning decisions. It has become increasingly clear that if we are to achieve our ultimate goal of saving Roughfields then this is going have to take a collective effort.”
Main image:
TOGETHER: Pictured holding Save Roughfields posters on the Padfield Main Road land are (left to right): Cllr Ollie Cross, Robert Hodgetts-Haley, MP Robert Largan and the group’s head of research Nic Holt, founder Halina Billingham and marketing lead Amanda Shard.
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