A bitter housing row has escalated after a firm ramped up security and threatend to fence off land following what it calls ‘misleading statements’ at a recent council meeting. MAN Energy Solutions' plans to build 200 homes on Mirrlees Fields, behind its Stockport HQ, in Hazel Grove.
The manufacturing giant’s proposals involve sacrificing around 20pc of the 67-acre area for housing, with the remainder being transferred to the Land Trust to manage ‘into perpetuity’ as public open space. But objectors insist the proposed site - known as ‘The Big Field’ - is ‘vital’ to the communities of Hazel Grove, Woodsmoor and Stepping Hill and Great Moor, as well as providing a haven for wildlife.
The scheme was given the unanimous thumbs down by local councillors last week ahead of going before the council’s planning committee this Thursday. Representatives from MAN have reacted angrily to comments made at the Stepping Hill area committee meeting - claiming they gave the misleading impression the fields were publicly owned, when this has never been the case.
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The company has now issued letters to people using the land without permission, stating that security patrols have been ramped up and fencing is to be installed to ensure people keep to public footpaths. Louise Durose, general counsel for MAN Energy Solutions, said: “We have been disappointed by the misleading statements made recently regarding the status of the land, which have regrettably forced us to take further action in securing it.
“The land is privately owned by MAN Energy Solutions. The company and the Mirrlees Fields Friends Group, a local charity reprsenting over 1,500 members of the local community, have always been clear with the public that the land is private.." The land was used for sports by the company’s employees for several years while more recently community groups - including the scouts and local schools - have used the land with the firm’s permission.
Walkers and the wider community have also used the land, albeit without formal consent from the MAN. The friends group believe that securing 80pc of the land for future generations is the best deal residents are going to get - and support the plans.
“What we have got on the table now is a known quantity. We are going to be given 80pc of the land with the money to look after it. That’s it then, the fight is over - otherwise it carries on,” said the group’s Lisa O’Farrell. “Nobody wants to see housing at all, but if we all took that approach there would be no new housing going on."
“You can’t escape the fact that the land is privately owned,” she added. “Any time you set foot on the footpath you are trespassing, it’s not realistic to think that nothing is ever going to happen to that.”
However the Protect Mirrlees Fields Group takes a very different tack, and members are angry at MAN over what they see as a heavy handed response. Campaigner Elaine Leonard said: “We are very saddened and disappointed by the erection of the fences and security and it feels like the bullying behaviour of a corporate giant against the community of Woodsmoor because we don’t agree with development of the field.
“The only reason it has been picked up is people have been walking and security guards have told them off. I’ve walked these fields pretty much every day for 32 years, nobody has ever asked me to get off.”
Elaine has described the field as a ‘godsend’ for people in the surrounding areas.
“We are very short of green space in this area,” she said. “Our ward has the lowest area of green space - it’s not like we have got parks everywhere. That’s our green space and they want to take it off us.”
Coun Tom Morrison has also urged the company to step back from fencing off the ‘much treasured local green space’.
"The threats of closing the fields by MAN Energy are not only irresponsible but they are also petty,” he said. “ It’s clear MAN have not received a positive reception to its proposals to build on the fields, this is nothing more than a punishment for a community that refuses to give up its campaign.
“I’m calling in MAN Energy to stand down on its threat, and start building a more collaborative relationship with the local residents.”
Stockport council’s planning committee meets at the town hall on Thursday night (December 15).
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