Who Are We?
We are a community of Royton residents, determined to oppose the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) proposals to build thousands of homes on our beautiful Royton Greenbelt land. We have over 2,700 supporters, fighting together to prevent the mass development of our lovely green open spaces around Royton.
Why we oppose the GMSF proposals
The whole purpose of Greenbelt land is to provide open space between villages and towns and prevent “urban sprawl”. Much of the proposed developments actually serve to merge the villages of Slattocks, Chadderton, Royton, Thornham, Shaw and Crompton and remove much of the open farmland that currently separates them. Can anyone imagine, who visits Tandle Hill Country Park, looking out from this historic monument onto thousands of houses and industrial buildings instead of beautiful rolling hills with an abundance of wildlife?
We do not oppose building homes, we only oppose building on the greenbelt
We are convinced that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are preferring to use Greenbelt sites as they can achieve better returns from developers who can build more expensive housing in these areas of beauty. We are also convinced that the GMCA have their figures wrong with regards the projected demand for this huge level of housing and commercial premises in the whole Greater Manchester region. All their calculations are based on out of date reports and pre-Brexit assumptions. We are also dismayed at the fact that they have ignored so many Brownfield sites available and have not undertaken a comprehensive survey of these sites. There are many acres of derelict mills and wasteland laid empty across the borough that could be used for housing projects or commercial uses. In addition, when one looks at many of the “industrial parks” across Greater Manchester, there are millions of square footage of space available to more than satisfy any future demand for industry, distribution and warehousing.
Impact on local infrastructure and public services
As residents, we also have many other concerns including the huge increase in traffic, noise and air pollution that these proposed developments would bring to the area. Our local roads have been at full capacity for many years resulting in nose to tail traffic every morning and evening rush hours. Many have not been resurfaced for decades and are in a poor state of repair. Any parents with children at the local schools know that any increase in traffic in the area would be disastrous. An average of two cars per proposed household would result in an additional 6500 cars in Royton alone, not to mention the huge increase in heavy goods vehicles. Our current schools, dentists and doctors' surgeries in the Royton area are already heavily over-subscribed and it is relatively normal for Royton residents to have to wait between 7 and 10 days for a doctor’s appointment. Please join us and invite all your friends and neighbours to join us here on this website and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/roytongreenbelt/