Disappointed that your article on 'Atom Valley' describes the Mayoral Development Zone as ' mostly industrial parks and brownfield sites'. Thousands of homes proposed to accompany the industrial development will decimate the Green Belt around Stakehill, Slattocks, Heywood, Pilsworth and Simister. Investment into local high quality industry is welcome, but there is plenty of room for this in existing locations on Kingsway and Stakehill. Rochdale has already allocated sites to meet 170% of its housing need without touching any Green Belt land. The question is - why is the council hell bent on enticing the large developers to build thousands of executive homes all over our precious green space? Why did Council Leader Neil Emmott state, in July 2021, that the Council could not pull Green Belt allocations out of the 'Places for Everyone' plan for fear of legal challenge from developers?
Disappointed that your article on 'Atom Valley' describes the Mayoral Development Zone as ' mostly industrial parks and brownfield sites'. Thousands of homes proposed to accompany the industrial development will decimate the Green Belt around Stakehill, Slattocks, Heywood, Pilsworth and Simister. Investment into local high quality industry is welcome, but there is plenty of room for this in existing locations on Kingsway and Stakehill. Rochdale has already allocated sites to meet 170% of its housing need without touching any Green Belt land. The question is - why is the council hell bent on enticing the large developers to build thousands of executive homes all over our precious green space? Why did Council Leader Neil Emmott state, in July 2021, that the Council could not pull Green Belt allocations out of the 'Places for Everyone' plan for fear of legal challenge from developers?