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.
