Council want to quietly rubber stamp development

9:00am Thursday 24th July 2008

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TRAFFORD Centre owners Peel Holdings have submitted plans for a 16-storey hotel next to junction 9 of the M60 motorway.

These plans have been very poorly publicised and as a result very few people in the area seem to know about them. It appears that Trafford Council have sent notifications to some, but not all, residences within about 300 metres of the site. However, we believe the development is likely to have an impact over a much wider area in Davyhulme and Stretford, at least.

There is a period of just 21 days to make comments on the application, the closing date being July 29. This seems unreasonably short given that there are 72 separate documents about the development on the Trafford Web site. Furthermore, this has all been published at peak holiday time so many people will be away for some or all of the period.

It is difficult not to feel that Trafford Council want to quietly rubber-stamp this development, giving it about as much prominence as if a neighbour wanted to build a small extension. For a development of this size I would have hoped that Trafford Council would consider the interests of its own citizens and publicise it much more widely. I would also have expected Peel Holdings to hold public meetings to present their plans to residents and give us the opportunity to voice our opinions and ask questions.

I would urge anyone who is concerned about this development to make their views known to Trafford Council about the development itself and also about the lack of information and short consultation period. The plans can be found at www.trafford.gov.uk/planning under reference H/69777.

David Hough, Davyhulme