Trust’s green belt build plans before committee
CONTROVERSIAL plans to fund a charity redevelopment through the sale of green belt land for housing will come before council chiefs tomorrow night.
Seashell Trust, which is based in Cheadle and provides care and education for profoundly disabled children, has applied for planning permission for up to 325 new homes on land it owns between Wilmslow Road and the A34 at Heald Green.
The charity wants to build a £45m ‘national centre of excellence’ to replace its current, outdated campus, which is home to some of the most severely disabled young people in the UK, and says the sale of the land is necessary to fund the project.
A number of residents in the area are unhappy about the plans and a ‘Save Heald Green green belt’ group is campaigning against the development.
Cheadle MP Mary Robinson has also come out in opposition, saying that she ‘cannot support the proposal to build this large scale development on green belt land’.
The application was discussed at the December meeting of Cheadle Area Committee, which was standing room only as concerned locals packed out the room.
Councillors on the committee identified a number of issues with the proposals, which they have asked the Planning and Highways Regulation Committee – due to take a final decision on the application tomorrow evening – to take into account.
These include concerns about the impact of traffic on roads that are already busy; the lack of space in local schools and the lack of public transport access to the site.
Cheadle councillor Iain Roberts said: “The Seashell Trust is a fantastic organisation and we’re proud to have it. But if they want to build over 300 homes on the green belt they need to show there is no other option.”
Bosses at the charity say the sale of the land is crucial to the redevelopment to replace its current, outdated campus and they have ‘exhausted every other option’.
Chief executive and principal Mark Geraghty said: “We understand that using some of our land for housing to help pay for the scheme is a difficult decision, but we have exhausted every other option and we are in desperate need of a new building for our very special children.”
The application will come before the Planning and Highways Regulation Committee tomorrow (Thursday). The meeting, which is open to the public, will be on from 6pm in Committee Room Two at Stockport Town Hall.
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