£45m plan for disabled charity centre is rejected

CHARITY bosses have expressed their disappointment after a controversial plan to fund a £45m refurbishment that had been two years in the making was refused.

The application from Seashell Trust, which provides care and education for profoundly disabled children, came before last night’s meeting of the Stockport planning committee.

The proposal was to fund the building of a new ‘centre of excellence’ through the sale of green belt land in Heald Green for up to 325 new homes.

Planning officers had recommended it be granted, and a number of councillors spoke out in favour of the proposals, amid concerns from other councillors over the loss of the green belt.

Coun Andy Sorton said it would be ‘a terrible thing’ if the application were refused.

“How is it that some of our most vulnerable children are being left behind?” he said. “We will be judged by this. None of us know what these children need. We have to listen to the experts.”

But councillors who opposed the application questioned how it would benefit the community at as a whole, and raised concerns about how schools, doctors and dentists would cope with the increased population.

Coun Brian Bagnall said: “I am not convinced that there are benefits that outweigh the harm and the loss of the green belt. The applicant has not, in my view, demonstrated the special circumstances necessary for this to be approved.”

A vote was taken, with seven members in favour of refusing the application and five against.

Mark Geraghty, chief executive of Seashell Trust, said: “We have been working incredibly hard for more than two years now to answer every question asked of us by the planning team and we firmly believe we have proved beyond doubt the need for a new school and campus of this nature.”