Hundreds slam plans for school on nature reserve
HUNDREDS of furious objections have been made to plans for a new secondary school on a wildlife sanctuary in Gorton.
Nearly half of Nutsford Vale, a former tip that has been transformed into community parkland – including an orchard and wildflower meadow – by volunteers, will be lost to the new 1,200-place secondary if plans are approved on Thursday.
The move has been met with a flood of objections, including a 1,000-strong petition and all three local councillors.
Council bosses have been accused of treating the country park’s volunteers with ‘contempt’ by attempting to push through the plans. Residents, the local Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats all also warn its former use as a landfill could make it unsafe.
But education chiefs say there is nowhere else to build a muchneeded school in central Manchester and planning officers are recommending it for approval.
Proposals for the new school – off Matthews Lane – first surfaced in 2016, when the council announced it was looking at a number of possible locations for a new secondary.
Last year it emerged that Nutsford Vale was the preferred option, despite furious opposition from ward councillors, including Julie Reid.
She said she was ‘absolutely gobsmacked’ by the proposal and argued it ‘wouldn’t happen in Didsbury or Chorlton.’
Since then the council has worked up proposals for a three-storey school building and two all-weather pitches, promising a replacement wildflower meadow, hedges and orchard.
But Gorton councillors Peter Cookson and Bernard Stone warn they are ‘extremely concerned’ at the loss of a ‘substantial part of the country park,’ adding: “Nutsford Vale is totally unsuitable and would take away a much-loved and muchneeded green space.”
Friends of Nutsford Vale – which, since the late 1990s has transformed the former tip using around £500,000 of council money – is tabling a 1,000-strong petition against the plans. And the council’s own trees department says it will lead to a ‘significant loss of semi-natural green space, including a large proportion of the site’s woodland.’
Excavation last year also showed the land contains a range of chemicals due to its former uses, including cyanide, arsenic, lead, mercury and ‘a very high level of methane,’ and residents question whether poisons and gases under the ground can be safely removed.
The Environment Agency has not objected, however, so long as strict remediation conditions are imposed.
Objectors also warn of the impact on traffic – one describing it as a ‘catastrophe waiting to happen’ due to increased numbers of children and cars on the road.
The council’s highways department admits it will lead to more congestion, but believes the effects can be ‘mitigated to an acceptable level’ through a school travel plan.
Overall the council provides a range of counter-arguments to the objections outlined in the planning report, including that a new school is ‘essential’ for the local community – pointing to ‘ongoing population growth.’