Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The anger rises over Marple College sell off

So, the Marple Area Committee meeting has never seen anything like it. They moved it to a room that could hold 150, but there were about the same number still outside. In the end, it was taken outside into Memorial Park. The basic council line on the college land sell off, from the officials and the councillors is the same - the site of the Hibbert Lane campus will not be granted planning permission for retail.

There are, however, more questions than answers arising out of all this and people aren't happy at all.

Here are a few to start with.

Why was the MP Andrew Stunell not at the meeting tonight?

When did councillors first learn of this plan for the college to sell off land?

On what basis has "market research" of Marple residents' shopping habits been used to substantiate a business case for a retail development on the site?

What economic impact surveys have been done regarding a retail development on this site?

What conversations have the college held with housebuilders over development of the land for housing and what value has the land for residential development?

What discussions have they held with the local council, or potential partners, over the possibility of leisure developments on the site, including the closure of Marple baths and new sports facilities?

If the plan for retail is against council policy, why has it taken until now for elected officials to RESPOND to questions, let alone make public statements on the issue?

What would change the council's policy on the use of this site? If medium or large retail would be refused, what is small? And what trust can anyone in Stockport have over Tesco's interpretation of this, given their Portwood store is 15 per cent bigger than they had permission for?

And just a thought, which of the Marple councillors are up for election next year? And which of them have served as governors of the college in the recent past? Which of them were privy to meetings at which the land sale was discussed?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Squirm councillors squirm,Marple inferno!

Anonymous said...

Squirm councillors Squirm,Marple inferno!

Anonymous said...

Squirm councillors Squirm, Marple inferno!

Anonymous said...

Over and above my anger at the prospect of a Tesco's on Hibbert Lane, two questions came to my mind tonight, does the council think that arranging to hold this meeting in Marple Library demonstrates that they have a grasp of what the residents feel about this issue, and do they think that the War Memorial was a suitable podium from which to display their ignorance?

Anonymous said...

Why all the conspiracy theories? The Council's Area Committee meetings are scheduled many months in advance - long before this issue arose. The Marple committee normally takes place in the library, and it was moved to the Senior Citizen's Hall a few days ago, because more people than normal were expected. No-one could have anticipated that the turnout would be on such a scale. That's all.

Anonymous said...

Why all the conspiracy theories? The Council's Area Committee meetings are scheduled many months in advance - long before this issue arose. The Marple committee normally takes place in the library, and it was moved to the Senior Citizen's Hall a few days ago, because more people than normal were expected. In the end, even more people than that attended. No-one could have anticipated that the turnout would be on such a scale. That's all.

Anonymous said...

We should all read page 3 of the long Tesco thread on the Marple website, and worry. It's where Stockport councillor Andrew Bispham says "all planning applications succeed eventually" and points out that Stockport Council runs the risk of having costs awarded against them for delaying a planning application if Tesco goes to appeal. He's basically saying that the council can't afford the barristers and consultants necessary to fight the scheme. If this is local democracy in action then it's a sorry day for us all - Guy