Plot-holders dig in over Latics stadium plans

DEFIANT . . . Broadway Allotment holders, (from left) Bridie Murray, James Murray, Raymond Hadfield, Tommy Casey, Tracy Cunningham, Dave Cunningham, Michael Fyson and Margaret Fyson

FURIOUS plot-holders are preparing for a David and Goliath-style battle to save their allotments after vowing to fight Latics’ £20 million stadium plans.

Regulars at Broadway Allotments in Failsworth are angry at being kept in the dark over the proposed move. Now, plot-holders — mostly pensioners — have said they won’t be moved.

Athletic teamed up with Oldham Council to unveil plans to sell Boundary Park for family housing. Club chiefs see a 12,000-seater stadium with community sports facilities on a 30-acre site off Broadway as the only way forward for the ailing club.

The council has agreed to transfer allotment land and Lower Memorial Park for the League One club to build on, while Athletic have a deal in place to buy the neighbouring Lancaster Club.

Plans were initially kept under wraps until, according to the club and council, talks had been held with all parties. While allotment holders would be offered compensation and 20 new plots.

But a fortnight on, allotment holders say, apart from a brief phone call informing them of a Cabinet meeting, they have not been approached and promises to keep them informed have been broken.

They will oppose the planning application and will use the legal facilities of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners to protest.

Allotments secretary Tracy Cunningham (46) has spent £1,000 on a new shed and greenhouse. She said: “We are vigorously and vehemently opposed to it. I’m absolutely furious over the lack of consultation and engagement. We are unanimous in our decision to put up a ‘David and Goliath’ fight to prevent the council and Oldham Athletic simply rolling in and destroying our site — a site which has been in constant use since 1942 and to this day has a waiting list and no vacant plots.

“We are not budging and are really angry. We are not going to quietly stand by and relinquish the site and, as we all live locally, the noise, traffic and disturbance associated with match days makes for a very unappealing prospect for those who will live in the shadow of the proposed new stadium.”

New leases for the land, once part of the Second World War Dig for Victory effort, should have been issued in April but were not.

Chairman Michael Fyson said: “We were promised 25-year leases to give us security. The next minute they turn around and say we have to go. They couldn’t care less about us.”

Wife Margaret Fyson (72) added: “We are pensioners so we don’t count any more.. It’s disrespectful. We inherited a wilderness and put a lot of effort in and this is a great disappointment.”

James Murray, who went without a holiday to invest £1,000 in a greenhouse and shed, said: “It’s disgraceful. I feel let down with the way they have handled everything without notifying anyone.”

The council’s suggestion to use land across the road has been dismissed as unsuitable.

Mrs Cunningham said: “It’s like a tip on Moston Brook. They can’t plonk us in the middle of nowhere with no vehicle access. Pensioners can’t just dig up trees that have been there for 30 years.”

After being alerted by the Chronicle, council chiefs yesterday contacted the allotment holders to set up a meeting.

Council chief executive Charlie Parker said the council and Latics are wholly committed to talking with residents and affected groups before detailed plans are drawn up.

He added: “We remain confident that the views of the Allotments Society and others will be fully reflected in any final proposals for the good of the whole community.”

Latics say the club is haemorrhaging money in a crumbling stadium and must move to become financially viable. They’re planning a public meeting to discuss the plans on a provisional date of August 10.