The article announcing this is on the Heywood Advertiser website. As you can see there it relates to Rochdale Councils Local Development framework for the town guiding development over the next 15 years. It states that because the land is greenbelt they have had to provide more evidence (than normal) to justify the decision but they are sure they have enough. The article says it follows a furious two year battle over where the council should free up green land - apparently Langley was under consideration.
On the doubling in size of the Industrial Park a statement is also included saying ' We cannot say that Heywood Distribution Park will not expand further than what has been proposed'
The Development document goes for final approval to government in the new year. Prior to that people are being given there final chance to have a say on it.
Judith - in relation to your comments is there any mandatory requirement for the Council to have performed an environmental study. Presumably in a modern world there is. Who are they obliged to consult?
Colin - dont confuse Ecological Impact Assessment with Environmental Impact Assessment. two very different animals.
As a planning consultant once said to me - dont try and make sense of the Town and Country planning System. It doesnt make sense!
Try Googling Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations and have a delve into the murky world of Town and Country Planning.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
I would have thought that for Green Belt land they will definitely have to submit an EIA with the p/a and that will be available for public viewing with the rest of the p/a documents, when it is made. Sometimes with very big developments the developer "tests the water" first using press publicity, or even submits an application and then withdraws it, to see what kind of opposition there is and then addresses it. A reputable ecological consultant, who would be employed to do the EIA, would normally consult GMEU for data on protected species. For bird records, they are normally referred from GMEU to me.
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Judith Smith
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Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
The article announcing this is on the Heywood Advertiser website. As you can see there it relates to Rochdale Councils Local Development framework for the town guiding development over the next 15 years. It states that because the land is greenbelt they have had to provide more evidence (than normal) to justify the decision but they are sure they have enough. The article says it follows a furious two year battle over where the council should free up green land - apparently Langley was under consideration.
On the doubling in size of the Industrial Park a statement is also included saying ' We cannot say that Heywood Distribution Park will not expand further than what has been proposed'
The Development document goes for final approval to government in the new year. Prior to that people are being given there final chance to have a say on it.
Judith - in relation to your comments is there any mandatory requirement for the Council to have performed an environmental study. Presumably in a modern world there is. Who are they obliged to consult?
Secondly, have just had a look at the A-Z map to refresh my memory on the geography of the area in relation to the proposed developments you mention and it indeed is bad news. It looks like the area will eventually be just one gigantic business park sprawl and will impact on many species of birds - some of which have been mentioned on the forum and some of which have not. When I chatted to some of the local farmers and residents last summer, they too despair at the ever encroaching industry and all the accompanying noise and disturbance that goes with it. I'm sure that they won't give up without a fight and let's hope that one benefit of difficult economic times might be that projects like this get shelved?
Hi Colin. Has this application already passed the consultation stage? If not, then it is not necessarily doomed and I would urge you to get involved in the process. Please keep us informed. Thanks. Henry.
The Heywood advertiser has just announced that Rochdale Council are handing over to developers green belt between Heywood and the M62 for an extension which will double the size of the existing Heywood Industrial park and include c 520 houses. A new link road from the M62 to Hareshill Road will be included. The industrial park extension will be on the other side of Pilsworth Road from the existing one and will presumably sweep across towards Birch Industrial estate.
This is not visually attractive land but is bird rich as Bill Myerscough found when he was doing some atlasing round there this year. Looks like another green lung is doomed.
