Cricket club move protest
RESIDENTS are protesting against plans for a cricket club to move from its home of more than 100 years.
Bredbury St Mark’s Cricket Club wants to move from its long-standing home at Hillside Road, Woodley, to Dark Lane, in Bredbury and has submitted a planning application to the council.
But residents near the current Woodley ground are objecting to plans to build 22 homes there - which would finance the move - saying it is unsuitable.
Some members of the club - which has been looking for a new home for 20 years - are also upset about the club moving away from its supporters.
Among them is Phil Morton, of nearby Pennine Road, who said: “It has been part of the community for 113 or 114 years and it would move three or four kilometres away.
“What it needs to do is invest in the site here, there are lots of grants available if you show commitment to where you are.
“We don’t want houses there, it is valuable public open space and the road is not the widest so access for cars would be limited.
“It is unsuitable for houses and there are lots of brownfield sites to use instead. A number of members aren’t happy with this but you have to carry on.”
In addition the junction of Hillside Road, Pennine Road and Werneth Road is already busy without extra traffic from a housing development, says Phil.
Consultation on the proposals closed on Monday (September 11) and Stockport council will now decide whether to give them the go ahead.
Bredbury St Mark’s began looking for a new home in 1999 and over the last 18 years have unsuccessfully looked at 21 other potential sites.
Geoff Mountford, 65, is part of the club’s relocation committee and says a bigger ground with bigger boundaries is vital.
Should the move go ahead, he says there will also be better training facilities for the club’s 12 teams, which include six junior sides.
Geoff said: “Our present ground is a century old, when it was first built cricket was a completely different game.
“At the level we play at with better bat technology, people’s physique and pitch improvements it is easier to hit sixes. It is not sustainable, it is just too small.
“There is no room to expand, if this goes through we will be at a 10-acre site and will give us a quality set up for the next 100 years.”