Manchester City Council’s Planning Committee has today voted , by 9 votes to 5 votes to APPROVE the Commercial Soccer Centre in Heaton Park.

An impressive crowd of protestors made it to Manchester Town Hall on Thursday afternoon and the public areas were packed with protestors.

Councillors first voted on a request made by local Prestwich Councillor Tim Pickstone for a site visit (so that the Councillors would consider this at their next meeting after visiting the area) but this was voted down about 9 votes to 5.

Then the campaign got to make its case when local resident Paul Toner spoke against the plans, together with statements from local Councillors Tim Pickstone, Wilf Davison and spokesperson for Ivan Lewis MP. A spokesperson for Goals Soccer Centres spoke in favour of the proposals.

However controversy continues to haunt the proposals as it came to light that a response from the Garden Historical Society AGAINST the plans had not been included in the paperwork for the meeting. The GHS are a statutory consultee on this issue and they raised serious concerns about the impact of the centre on the historical character of the park, and on how it would impact on the entrance way.

A proposal to defer the decision to allow more time to consider this late objection was also defeated 9 votes to 5.  There was some debate by Councillors, but most remained silent.

Finally the proposal was approved by 9 votes to 5. Planning is a non-Party Political issue, but by chance……, all the Labour Councillors voted in favour, all the Liberal Democrat councillors voted against.

So, after all the hard work of the Campaign the proposal has been accepted. Everyone involved is understandably gutted and devastated by the decision.

Despite the result I congratulate all those involved in the campaign, you fought a first rate campaign on the right issues for a good cause, preservation of open parkland.

I will be in touch with Bury Council to now ask that they give careful consideration to mitigation measures in the area to deal with increased traffic and even worse, agravated parking issues that this development will bring. I will also be insisting that the 10pm curfew set for the devlopment is monitored closely as should the promise of free off peak community use.

A sad day for Heaton Park and all who love our green open spaces.