It may look like a ‘scruffy, overgrown piece of land’ but locals say Stockport County’s plans to turn it into a car park would destroy a ‘haven’ for wildlife left undisturbed for decades. The resurgent club - which narrowly missed out on promotion to the third tier of English football last season - has a seven-year plan to redevelop its Edgeley Park home, as it eyes a return to the game’s big time.
It comes after The Hatters secured a 250-year lease from the council for the ground, part of which was occupied by the old Sykes Bleach Works. The proposals include using land behind the ‘pop side’ of the ground as a 60-space car park for staff, players and officials - albeit with a ‘considerable area’ set aside for landscaping and ecology.
A planning appliction is expected later this year - but local nature lovers are urging the club to think again. They say the football pitch-sized plot is the only area suitable for wildlife in the whole of Edgeley - bar two pieces of land at the sewage works - hosting a variety of potentially vital flora and fauna.
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Driving the campaign is the Edgeley Wildlife Reserve Steering Group, founded by resident Robert Eyre. Its survey found more than 80 mature trees at the site - including oak, sycamore, willow and Scots pine - as well as numerous saplings. Around half would be lost under the plans, along with important plant life such as gooseberries, brambles, bracken and forget-me-nots.
Steering group member Julia Blundell identified 13 types of birds at the site, with longtailed-tits, great tits, blackbirds and robins all nesting there.
She says five of the species are currently on the red or amber ‘birds of conservation concern’, including a pair of bullfinches she was ‘excited’ to spot. The land is also home to small creatures such as hedgehogs, mice and toads.
Julia, an Edgeley resident, stresses that campaigners are not anti-County - in fact most are fans of the club. But they are passionate about saving a natural ‘powerhouse’ that could be crucial to the biodiversity of the Edgeley area and beyond.
“We are just pro-nature, we are not trying to exaggerate, we are only speaking the truth with what we say, we are not trying to over-emphasise our point, we just want to share the facts,” she tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“Some might say that one overgrown scruffy piece of land doesn’t matter - and perhaps it doesn’t matter. But you can be sure that all across Manchester, and all over the country, other communities will be having the same discussions and if we roll over and do nothing then it really will matter for wildlife.”
Julia recalls how an exercise to clear litter from the land revealed how it was ‘absolutely crawling’ with insects - from millipedes and centipedes to beetles, spiders and caterpillars.
“It was nothing like your normal experience when you are doing your garden,” she adds. “They have been left in peace for so long, it’s like a larder for a lot of birds.”
Rob and Julia say they are committed to saving the land for wildlife - and so future generations will not have to leave the area just to learn about their natural history.
“In all this urban area we have this scrap of land and around the sewage works. It's quite shocking when you realise the countryside is not as fit-for-purpose or romantic as we like to hold up and wildlife is clinging to the edges,” Julia says.
“This could be a complete little larder, a haven.”
She continues: “What we are really concerned about is - if we lose this site to a facility for more cars and car parking - we don’t understand if we are losing a powerhouse of insects that might well drive and support the whole biodiversity of all the reservoirs here.”
Rob also notes that the area is prone to flooding - an issue no one seems to have been able to get to the bottom of.
He believes it relates to the natural springs under the site, as referenced in an advert placed in the Manchester Mercury in November 1792.
“If all those trees disappear and the rootage isn’t there to drink all the water that’s under the ground, are we going to suffer more flooding?” asks Rob. The steering group does not class parkland as wildlife habitat as, by nature, it is heavily managed to create recreational areas for people to enjoy.
Although efforts have been made in recent years to ‘wild’ some areas, Rob says it is ‘nothing compared to how private and safe’ the Edgeley reserve is for wildlife.
“There’s nothing else in the whole of Edgely apart from until you get to the sewage works on the other side,” he adds. Campaigners lament how local bird life has been ‘shoved’ into the sewage area.
“We are in a situation where we have pushed our natural heritage into a place where they are just living among our sewage - which is not a very good testimony of our culture,” adds Rob.
He is keen to stress that discussions with the club have been cordial - but the two sides aren’t yet entirely on the same page.
“We are not having a go at the football club. But what if the football club closes or gets relegated or doesn’t succeed - and we are left with a tarmaced area? It was only a few years ago that County nearly folded, so it’s dependent on a lot of things.
“Is it worth it getting rid of that on a gamble when there are alternatives?”
The 60-space car park proposed for the wildlife reserve is part of a plan to create around 160 spaces in total.
For the steering group, the alternative would be to protect the wildlife reserve while accommodating players, executives and officials on the rest of the new parking proposed for the South Stand.
They argue that the club, NPC and council could then make arrangements for fans to use the numerous car parks within a 12-minute walk of the ground.
These include the Grand Central car park near the railway station, the town hall car park and the Heaton House car parks. A survey campaigners carried out on the day of County’s last home game of the season (May 8) found one of these - completely empty, with 61 spaces available.
“Almost identical to the number of spaces the club would plan to create by destroying the wildlife reserve,” adds Rob, who notes it was an important match with The Hatters battling for promotion.
However, Rob believes the club and local nature-lovers could find a ‘happy resolution for wildlife where both sides are winners. “We can all come up smelling of roses if we work together,” he says.
Julia agrees. “We could save this piece of land and we would be happy, the wildlife would be happy, we would not risk the biodiversity of the three reservoirs and can ensure our children will grow up to hear birdsong,” she says.
“County will hopefully go up and we can celebrate that and, as they do that, they can not only show off their football skills, but that they are sensitive to the environment and the fragile times we live in.”
What the club says
Chairman Ken Knott says the club has a ‘clear vision’ to expand and improve Edgeley Park for the mutual benefit of the club and the town - but agrees the project should support local biodiversity.
“We’ve got a real opportunity to invest in the stadium and create not just the sporting facilities we need, but to create a ripple effect reaching further into Stockport itself, boosting the town and its economy,” he said.
“Within our emerging plans, we are proposing that some of the land to the south of the stadium is used for car parking, to ensure the club can achieve operational requirements for staff, the visiting team and officials.
“Through discussions with local residents, we are aware there are questions about this aspect of our plans, and we agree that an expanded Edgeley Park should support biodiversity. We are developing a proposed layout which sets aside avensuring we deliver significant ecological benefit and natural drainage, as well as retaining the existing tree and landscape buffer along Moscow Road East. As our plans progress, we are keen to work with local residents to design the detail of the planting and ecological features.”
Mr Knott adds that a club consultation last year garnered more than 500 responses, demonstrating ‘overwhelming support’ including a ‘strong desire to improve transport links to the stadium and reduce parking pressures on surrounding streets’.
Since then, the club has been working hard to produce detailed proposals, in response to the feedback received from neighbours and supporters.
He added: “We will be ready to share our more detailed plans in another phase of consultation at the beginning of next season. We look forward to continuing to work with our neighbours and supporters to deliver an inclusive and sustainable expansion of Edgeley Park, which creates excitement and ambition not just within the Club but across Stockport.”
What the council’s environment and climate change chief says
Stockport council declared a climate emergency in 2019, leading the authority to develop Climate Action Now (CAN) plan. It also declared a ‘biodiversity emergency last March, together with the other nine boroughs of Greater Manchester.
Edgeley Wildlife Reserve also falls within a council conservation which, while focused on heritage, also covers ‘trees’ and ‘views and vistas’.
Coun Mark Roberts, cabinet member for climate change and environment, says biodiversity is vitally important - particularly so in green areas in the ‘urban core’, such as Edgeley.
He said: “Our approach is to improve and increase biodiversity in all parts of the borough and developments, where they do happen, should ensure there is no wider loss.
“ I can't comment on this particular site as there is no firm proposal and my understanding is that the land in question isn’t now in the council’s control, having been leased to Stockport County by the previous Labour administration.”
Coun Roberts - also deputy council leader - added that he was unable to comment about a potential planning application until it exists.
“Planning is a quasi-judicial issue where the due and proper process is essential to follow and the council is governed by national planning policy,” he continued.
“If a planning application does come in, it will be appraised by the local area committee and perhaps the planning committee, depending on what is proposed.
“I’ve spoken to a representative of this group in the past and encouraged them to engage with the football club as the best way forward.”
What Edgeley councillors say
Coun Matt Wynne, leader of the Edgeley Community Association group said the land was intended to be public allotments in the 1980s, following the closure of the old bleachworks, but the plan failed to materialise.
He said: “This section of brownfield land has since been reclaimed by nature. If the club decide to develop this land for car parking then it will need to justify the level of parking it requires as part of any planning application.
“We're aware that there are positive and cordial conversations between the club and the campaign group on this particular issue - we hope to see this continue and will wait to see what proposals come forward as part of the outline planning application County are due to put in.”
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