A car showroom boss says he believes part of the plans for a new railway station i n Cheadle will force him out of business. It was announced in July that Cheadle Towns Fund Board (CTFB) had been granted government funding for the new £9m station and £1m for a related package of walking and cycling routes.
In May a planning application was submitted for the proposed new single platform station, on the Chester to Manchester (Mid Cheshire) line off Manchester Road next to the Alexandra Hospital.
Council chiefs say it will be built in phases with the hope it can be completed 2025. The move, which will see Cheadle to be served by its own railway station for the first time in nearly 60 years and link it to both Stockport station and Manchester Piccadilly, has been widely welcomed in the area.
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A survey conducted on behalf of the CTFB found 87 percent of the people questioned supported the development of a new station, and that 66 percent said were likely to travel to it by foot and 13 percent by bike.
However, one nearby business owner says he believes a proposed new shared cycle lane and footpath into the station will make it 'impossible' for them to stay open and could also put road users at risk.
Daniel Maxwell Car Sales has been trading at their site on Manchester Road, just a few hundred yards from the proposed new station, for over 20 years and there have been family car businesses operating at the site for over a century.
Stockport Council says they have "secured funding to implement a substantial package of pedestrian and cycle improvements throughout Cheadle as part of the Cheadle Towns Fund" which includes a route linking Queen's Gardens and Abney Park.
And part of the station plans is a new 3.5 metre shared pedestrian and cycle route from Newlands Road down the eastern side of Manchester Road, right in front of the garage, crossing the road via a new toucan crossing.
Owner and director Daniel Tyrrell, 49, who lives in Offerton, says his business has an exception to the traffic order in place outside his forecourt, where are there double yellow lines, for loading and unloading with transporters parking immediately outside when making deliveries.
And the second-hand showroom's boss says the new shared footway would narrow the road and mean these transporters would be forced to park further into it, with the potential they could completely block it causing congestion and creating a safety risk.
He also fears pedestrians and cyclists could be put at risk when they are taking cars off their forecourt, which holds around 35 vehicles, either for test drives or when they have been sold.
"We won't be able to receive any deliveries, we won't be able to load and unload and we won't be able to pull cars on and off-site for customers," Mr Tyrrell said. "If we can't do these things we can't open. If we can't get in and out, what do we do?
"We can't operate with half the lane gone. Transporters won't be able to get to us. it means we would have to block the whole road which would cause gridlock.
"There's the health and safety aspect as well. It would cause adverse effects for the public and it would be dangerous. I'm all for the station, but this cycle lane, as it is, will shut us down."
Stockport Council claims they have already amended their plans following a discussion with Mr Tyrrell. However, he insists that the plans as currently drawn up will be unworkable and says it is already having an effect on himself and his staff.
"It's causing anxiety," he said. "We don't know whether we're coming or going. We can't make any future plans. What's the point in spending money on the place when we don't know if we'll eventually have to leave.
"We've already looked to re-locate but, the cheapest place we could find within Stockport was £1.7 million. So what do we do? We've been here 20 years and have been making money all that time. And all because of a cycle lane, we might have to shut, well we will have to shut, if goes through. It's not right."
"I'm all for the station, on its own it will be good for my business" he added. "People will be able to get the train to come and collect. It's just the cycle lane that is the issue."
He says he has twice been asked to gift part of his land at the front of his forecourt to help with the project, but he has refused as this would make his forecourt too small.
"They said at one point they would look at a solution but they won't re-route it and to me that is the solution. That road isn't going to get any wider" he said.
"I wouldn't mind if they relocated me, swapped some land or something like that. I'm open for anything. But we've just been told there isn't the money in the budget. I just don't feel like they are listening. I feel I'm just being dismissed as a nuisance."
Daniel has commissioned highways and transport consultancy experts to compile a report on the proposals as they stand. It concluded two cars in free-flowing traffic would be unable to pass a 20-metre transporter in both directions simultaneously which "may lead to accidents and or queuing on the highway."
He has also enlisted the help of planning consultants who have been liaising with the council's planning department regarding his concerns.
A letter sent by them in May, seen by the Manchester Evening News , says the proposals "create a clear and unwanted tension, between the safety and convenience of other road users and the continued use of Manchester Road for loading and unloading cars, that is to say, between the safety of other road users and the viability of their business."
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"My client does not wish to see the safety of others put at risk, nor do they wish to see the council put them out of business," it says.
They urged the council to carry out a safety audit on the plans saying they were "creating a potentially dangerous situation by failing to give proper consideration to the road conditions.
They said the plans should be refused or the council be "required to amend the proposals to properly address the issues raised."
A spokesperson for Stockport Council said: “The planning application for a new station in Cheadle continues to be considered by officers who will examine all relevant material considerations in reaching a recommendation to members.
"The application will be considered by the Cheadle Area Committee before going to the council’s Planning and Highways Regulation Committee, where a decision will be made by councillors.
“As the applicant, the council’s project team has engaged with the owners of the garage regarding their current use of the public highway to load and unload vehicles.
"Following those discussions, the design has been amended to allow for loading to take place whilst still accommodating the proposed shared-use footway.
"This will allow the benefits of the new station and the associated cycling and walking improvements to be achieved whilst addressing the concerns raised by the garage owners."
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