Gwynne Column: Greater Manchester Spatial Framework

In his latest column for the Tameside Reporter, Denton MP Andrew Gwynne explains his opposition to the expansion of the Bredbury Industrial Estate.

Regular readers will be very aware of my strong objections to plans to extend the Bredbury Industrial Park in Stockport. I’ve encouraged you repeatedly to make your own objections known to the development and I’m very grateful that so many of you have.

For those of you who aren’t aware of the issue, there is an application with Stockport Council for a massive expansion of the industrial estate at Bredbury into precious green belt land which makes up part of the Tame Valley (even though there is plenty of brownfield land available in eastern Greater Manchester). There are obviously severe environmental concerns here, as these huge industrial units will ruin the area not just for those of us who enjoy roaming there, but also for the wildlife that thrives there, but this is just part of the problem.

Whilst the development itself is in Stockport borough, this really matters here in Tameside. Not only is the green space under threat shared between our two boroughs, the development would have a really negative impact specifically for Tameside. For instance, as the result of a low bridge in Stockport, we could potentially see an extra 2,000 more HGVs going through Denton every single month adding both pollution and even more traffic.

I’ve marched with hundreds from both boroughs against this plan and worked closely with the three Denton South Labour Councillors - George Newton, Claire Reid and Jack Naylor – and Hazel Grove’s Conservative MP William Wragg to do what we can to oppose the application.

The disastrous nature of these plans for Tameside has been recognised by the Council, who just a couple of weeks ago unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming their opposition to the scheme, which is still awaiting a final decision from Stockport.

You may be aware that the draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is going to all councils in the city region this month for approval, but the planning application before Stockport is separate – regardless of whether the GMSF is approved, this particular application will have to be determined. I will continue to oppose the application in every way that I can and will carry on urging councillors in Stockport to do the right thing and reject it.