Beneath the afternoon sun, Robert Carr gently sweeps his paintbrush along the front of his 300-year-old cottage. He pauses intermittently and descends his step ladder to chat to passers-by. It's a sight not uncommon here in the idyllic village of Simister, in Prestwich.
Yet, just yards from this peaceful scene runs one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the North West. Each day, around 90,000 vehicles pass through Simister Island, which links the M62, M60 and M66 motorways and takes its name from the nearby village.
The hum of motorway traffic is the backdrop to daily life for people in Simister, including Mr Carr. He grew up in Harpurhey but has lived in the village for more than two decades.
"It's the best place in the world," the 60-year-old said. "If I won the lottery, I wouldn't move from here. Everyone is dead friendly. It's a fantastic place to live and a good community. We have the Farmers Arms, where everyone meets up at weekends.
"Everyone knows everyone. We give each other lifts and just help each other. If you walk round the back, it's all farmland. You wouldn't think you were in Manchester."
Home to around 650 people, Simister is made up of little more than a church, a village hall, a playground, as well as quaint cottages, farms and bungalows. Despite its modest size, it has two popular pubs - The Farmers Arms and The Same Yet Inn, the latter of which is reported to be haunted by a ghost.
The village's rural charm means it is easy to forget that the hustle and bustle of Manchester city centre is just five miles away. Heaton Park is only a short walk across a bridge over the M60 too, while an hourly bus service links Simister to Prestwich village.
However, many here fear that the village they fell in love with could soon be swallowed up.
Under the Places For Everyone masterplan, which replaced the controversial Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) - a total of 1,550 new homes have been earmarked for a swathe of green belt land surrounding Simister.
Meanwhile, the huge Northern Gateway employment site, which it is estimated could create up to 20,000 new jobs, will be located on nearby land north of the M62.
While the proposals impacting Simister have been scaled back from previous versions, locals remain concerned. They fear it will spoil Simister's unique character as well as putting strain on the its limited infrastructure.
Kristian Dodsworth, chair of the Simister Village Community Association, described the plans as "a nightmare".
"It's going to obliterate everything in Simister," he said. "We've been fighting it for the last five or six years and have managed to get it reduced from 2,200 homes to 1,550. The traffic is already bad enough."
Simister Lane - the road that bisects the village - is used by drivers as a "rat run" between Prestwich and junction 19 of the M60, according to Mr Dodsworth.
"If you put in at least another another 2,000 cars on the road, it's going to be a nightmare," he said. "This is one of the only true villages left in Greater Manchester, that's why people want to live here.
"It's great. We have generations that live here. You get people moving away and moving back because they miss it.
"It's got a real community feel and that will be destroyed when there are so many houses. We've not got many amenities but we choose to live here for the location.
"I don't drive and the bus is chronic. It stops at seven and it only goes to Prestwich and back but I choose to do that because I want to live here. If they are going to destroy it, what's the point?"
Fumes from the nearby M60 and M62 are also a concern for people in the village. Mr Dodsworth says tests carried out by residents several years ago showed pollution levels in one part of the village were in excess of legal levels.
"It's always a worry that we are surrounded by motorways," said Mr Dodsworth. "But at the moment, there's enough green belt to alleviate some of that."
While they are vehemently opposed to the current Places For Everyone scheme, Kristian and others in the village accept that some development is inevitable.
"We know we need new houses but it's about doing it fairly," he said. "We've never said no to development, it's just the amount. People are already selling up if you go down towards the bottom end of Simister."
Kevin Burke has lived in his eye-catching home in Simister Lane for 42 years. He too believes the housing plans will have a dramatic impact on the area.
"It will spoil the village," the 82-year-old said. "It's bound to change as a result. At the moment, it's a great place to live. It's handy for Bury and Manchester.
"My kids were born here and we just stayed because we felt it was a nice place. Possibly because there are two nice pubs!"
When Nikki Behar arrived in Simister 17 years ago, she found some of its older residents to be cold and unwelcoming, she says. However, she says an influx of young families in recent years has made it "more friendly".
"It's becoming a bit more of a community," she explained. "A lot of families with young children and first-time buyers have started moving in.
"That's probably because of the schools. It's close to the motorway too, but not too close. Prestwich village is only a mile and a half away. You've got the benefit of living in a suburb with all the amenities but you are a little bit out from the hustle and bustle.
"I'd like it to keep villagey because that's why we moved here. I don't want it to get too modernised."
For some though, the village's close proximity to the motorway is part of its charm. "It's quite soothing, especially at night," said Sue Parrish, whose home is just yards from the M60.
"It's one of those white noises and I can see the lights twinkling. I find it quite comforting."
A spokesperson for Bury Council said: "One of the key purposes of PfE is to identify the land to provide homes and jobs for a growing population to ensure the future prosperity of Bury and maintain our borough’s reputation as a great place in which to live, work and study.
"The Bowlee allocation has the potential to deliver around 1,500 homes in order to diversify the type of accommodation across the Simister, Bowlee and Birch and Langley areas.
"The extent of the Bowlee allocation has been significantly reduced since the 2019 in order to help preserve the character of Simister Village and the allocation policy sets out specific requirements for supporting transport services and infrastructure including: an upgrade to the local highway network, traffic restrictions on Simister Lane to prevent this route from being a form of access/egress to and from the allocation, improved public transport provision through the allocation and close to the allocation in order to serve the development; other off-site highway works where these are necessary to ensure acceptable traffic movement and delivery of a network of safe and convenient cycling and walking routes through the allocation.
"Furthermore the planning policy outlines what infrastructure, such as schools and local centres, will be provided to support the development and the requirement for the provision of new, high quality, publicly accessible multifunctional green and blue infrastructure to provide health benefits to workers and residents, as well as creating a visually attractive environment."
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