‘Families will fight for green spaces’
THERE does not seem to be much in the way of common sense behind the plans announced by the council (Sentinel, November 6) to sell off 11 plots of land to raise £2.3 million.
Their definition of the land as ‘surplus to requirements’ seems to be based on a flawed understanding of how these sites are used by the communities in which they are located, and the likely consequences of their being built over.
This can be seen by looking at the two sites in Penkhull.
The land on Boon Avenue looks, to the eye of a developer, like a prime site to build on.
To local people it is somewhere to walk their dog or for their children to kick a ball around within sight of home.
It may not have been formally designated as a ‘public open space’, but it is clearly one highly valued by the local community.
The land in Sillitoe Place surrounds bungalows that are home to elderly people and has no road access or room for parking, similar problems with parking are present in Boon Avenue too.
Developing this site would, inevitably, cause noise and disruption for the people living nearby, some of whom may be physically frail, and will generate problems with parking and congestion that are hardly likely to enhance community cohesion.
Similar issues can, I’d be willing to bet, be identified with the other nine sites too.
It may well be that by attempting to gain a relatively small sum in the short term, the council could, by developing them, create long term problems that are far more costly.
At a time when the impact of human behaviour on the environment is at the forefront of our minds, it might also be argued that all these sites represent vital
stepping stones for nature in an urban setting.
It seems that Stoke-ontrent City Council is taking a leaf from the playbook of neighbouring Newcastle and attempting a ‘land grab’ of plots they think are too small for people to notice losing.
Communities, as the campaigns just across the border show, are not so easily fooled, nor willing to let their green spaces be snatched away.
ADAM COLCLOUGH PENKHULL