Fight for town green status

Photo: ANTHONY MILLER

DETERMINED . . . Joan McMahon and John Arnold on the land they want registered as a town green

BATTLING residents who want to get an open space designated as a town green spoke at the first day of a public inquiry yesterday.

Rallying locals from Chadderton, led by John Arnold, of Whitegate Road, say they have enjoyed the green space north of the fire station in Broadway for many years and they are pushing for town green status to stop possible future development on the site.

Ruth Stockley, the barrister who will decide the case, told the hearing that for a site to be given town green status the locals need to demonstrate that a significant number of people within a designated locality have used the area lawfully for pastimes or sports for at least 20 years and that they continue to do so.

The area at the heart of the debate, which is currently owned by Oldham Council, has a history of development, with Baretrees Junior School, Chadderton Football Club and Chadderton fire station all being built on the land around the site in recent years.

But, while locals are happy with those developments, they say that they want to preserve what is left for future generations.

Joan McMahon, who lives in Eustace Street, said: “I have enjoyed this area for 49 and half years.

“My children have played there, they grew up there, and especially in the summer, youngsters spend lots of time there and make dens.

“We are getting old and we have enjoyed it, but we want to keep it that way, so future generations and families can enjoy it too.

“We already have the school and fire station on the site, but they haven’t spoiled it and the area is surrounded by beautiful trees and is full of wildlife.

“To develop on this area would be a travesty.”

Other residents told how it was a very popular green space, with residents from other parts of the borough often driving there to walk their dogs or to enjoy leisure time.

A petition, with 74 signatures, has been collected in support of the application.

Town greens are given legal protection which safeguards them from development and legally confirms the recreational rights locals have previously enjoyed on the site.

Residents first lodged the application for town green status in 2001, when plans to build a police station on the land were submitted to Oldham Council.

The plans were later withdrawn and changes to the way the Government determines town green applications mean that the public inquiry has been delayed until now.

John Barrett, the barrister acting for the council, said that, since 1994, when ownership rights to the site were passed from the council’s housing committee to its leisure services committee, the site has effectively been used as public open space.

While not giving the same protection afforded by town green status, it is still difficult to develop on public open space and Douglas Chisholm, a principal legal assistant at Oldham Council, described the many steps the council had to go through when they were looking to dispose of land on the site where the police station would have stood.

The council currently has no plans to develop on the site, but would find it very difficult to do so in the future if the application is successful.

Keeping the area as a public open space also allows the council to control which activities take place on the site and to put conditions on those activities.

A final decision on the application is likely to be reached by September.