Residents have turned out in force to register their opposition to controversial plans to build 450 homes on one of the last remaining parcels of farmland in Salford. This was after property giant Peel put its £54m plan for the new estate at Hazelhurst Farm, next to the East Lancashire Road at Worsley, on display.
Scores of locals visited Brackley Conservative Club, right next to the green belt site, last week and were unequivocal in their opposition to the scheme. The 42-acre plot is sandwiched between the busy A580 and the slip road to the M61, and objectors say the "already congested roads" in the area would be even more overburdened.
They also say there would be even more pressure on services like doctors' surgeries and schools, which they say are already bursting at the seams. Peel and its building subsidiary Northstone's scheme has been submitted as part of Greater Manchester's Places for Everyone (PfE) plan, currently being considered by the Secretary of State for Housing, Levelling Up and Communities.
READ MORE: Developer Peel will have 'a fight on their hands' in bid to build 450 homes on green belt
The plan for the Green Belt land has yet to receive approval with examinations into its proposals likely to take place in the autumn. Nearby residents began arriving at the Conservative club Thursday (June 9) for the five-hour consultation, hosted by Peel.
The first to get there, a woman who did not wish to be named, said of the scheme: "It makes me sick. I've been walking my dogs on that farmland for 30 years. You can see little bits of development creeping in around the edges, and it incenses me. The noise from the traffic around here is horrendous. It's so bad, you can't even get off your drive, half the time."
Gail Muskett, 68, echoed her words when she said: "I don't want this plan to go ahead. It's as simple as that. There is not enough green space around here, as it is. They should be building these kinds of schemes on brownfield sites.
"Around here, there are plenty of other places they could put these houses."
Jeff, Dunn, 67, said: "I'm objecting because of the traffic. The roads are already congested. With 450 houses, that equates to another 900 cars. The roads just can't take it. They talk about accessible public transport, but there isn't any, because they're scrubbed all the buses."
His son-in-law Shaun Adams, 35, added: "I am asthmatic and so are my three children. I can see the fields from my house, I don't want them to disappear. I don't know how they would do it [build successfully] anyhow because the fields are like a swamp most of the time."
Barbara Leigh, 74, believes a rat infestation problem in the area has been caused by creeping development in the area.
"We can't get rid of them," she said. "If they build more houses it will make it even worse because they will have nowhere else to go. It's chock-a-block round here. More development is the last thing we need."
On display in the Conservative club was Peel Land & Property and Northstone's plan to build "up to 450 energy efficient homes to meet local needs, including first time buyers, families and downsizers".
They say many of the new homes will be affordable "to help meet the chronic shortage of affordable properties in the local area".
The plan would also include land and funding for a new two-form entry primary school, to help meet a wider shortage of school places and "contribute to the family-friendly credentials of the proposals".
Peel's director of planning and strategy Richard Knight said that "examination sessions" over the Places for Everyone plan would probably start in the autumn and start in a few months.
"Salford [city council] has signed off the allocation and supported it as a Green Belt release."
When questioned about congestion and "overdevelopment" of the area, he said: "There are powerlines and pylons all over Worsley, but it doesn't prevent it from being a desirable place to live.
"There are lots of facilities in the area and there is a huge demand for housing."
The PfE blueprint says Salford's housing requirement from 2021 to 37 is 26,528 dwellings - an annual average of 1,658. This equates to 5,000 higher than the city's own local housing need figure of 21,424.
