Local residents have launched a bid to save the Cow Field, a green space in Oldfield Brow that is set to be built on as part of a new £4.5m canalside development.
We reported in November how plans for 16 houses, a community centre and a new home for Trafford Rowing Club had been submitted to Trafford Council on behalf of developers Trafford Housing Trust.
The trust claims the proposed 3.4acre site near Stokoe Avenue is “in poor condition and underutilised”, and that the benefits of the development “will outweigh the loss of a small part of Protected Open Space”.
It also says the development will only affect “approximately 30%” of the Oldfield Brow Recreation Ground, which includes the Cow Field, with the rest of the development on “overgrown scrubland and former allotments”.
Residents, however, say it is in fact a “well-used green space” and that the community and land are unsuitable for the development.
One, Sally Potts, said: “The community is concerned about the implications of this proposed development, such as increased traffic and noise, design of the buildings and constructing homes on land infested with Japanese Knotweed.
“Our main concern though is the serious lack of proper consultation with local residents over what development they would welcome on Cow Field, our only local green area and an officially protected ‘Open Space’.”
A ‘Friends of Cow Field’ group has now been formed and 19 attended a meeting at the Bay Malton last week.
Below: Residents attend a meeting at the Bay Malton
A questionnaire was also distributed to over 300 households in the neighbourhood, with the group saying that of the 90 households that responded – 96% of whom lived in Oldfield Brow – over 60% were not in favour of the development in its current form.
A ‘Save the Cow Field’ online petition has also so far attracted over 150 signatures.
Another resident, Mike O’Neill, said: “We are not objecting to development per se, but we really feel that the proposed development does not demonstrate sufficient benefit for residents, the majority of whom are saying they would like to see their community open space used differently than the current proposal.
“Residents would like to see things that all residents can all benefit from, and that fit the rural location and the nearby Bridgewater Canal.”
Below: Residents have also mocked up a photograph showing the “massive” impact the development would have, as seen from the end of Crescent Road
The proposed development, which has the working title The Oldfield Centre, will provide a first formal base in seven years for the Seamons Moss Community Association.
The part of the development nearest to the Bridgewater Canal will become the new home of the Trafford Rowing Club, which is currently based in a rundown facility in Walton Park in Sale.
Located close to the development will also be 16 new houses – 10 will be detached three or four-bed houses on the canalside, with three sets of semi-detached houses running adjacent to the community centre.
Residents have until January 28 to submit comments regarding the planning application. At a public consultation at Oldfield Brow Primary School on November 10th, 31 comment sheets were collected, 12 of which contained objections to the proposal.
Full details about the plans can be found by searching for application 84214 here. Should the plans be accepted by Trafford, construction work is expected to begin on the site in late summer 2015.
Below: A model of the development shows the rowing club/community centre in red and the planned houses in green
Below: CGIs of the proposed development showing the rowing club, community centre and houses
