Bay Leaf redevelopment – a cause for great concern

The planning meeting to discuss the redevelopment of the Bay Leaf restaurant (old Wagon & Horses pub) at the foot of Grimshaw Lane in Bollington takes place at Macclesfield Town Hall on Wednesday 13th January at 10.00 am

Originally scheduled for October 2015, the meeting has been repeatedly postponed over the intervening months.

Back in August 2015, when ilovemacc learned that Bollington Town Council had undertaken a traffic census, which seemed to be hopelessly inaccurate, we decided to check on the situation ourselves by shooting incontrovertible video evidence – see below:

In the space of just 4.5 minutes around 65 vehicle movements can be counted. Compare this to the council’s data – which claimed roughly the same numbers – per hour!!

A subsequent open meeting for concerned residents, where the scheme came in for overwhelming criticism, led to Bollington Town Council recommending Cheshire East planners to refuse planning permission.

Now the highly controversial development has taken a new twist with an allegation that the owner/developer of the Bay Leaf property, on seeking advice on redevelopment, was introduced to Sainsbury’s by individuals within Cheshire East – possibly even its own Planning Department.

A cynic could be forgiven for thinking that the continued postponement of the planning meeting, until early January, may even have been instigated by Cheshire East planners to give the developers the opportunity to arrange their own traffic survey and the inevitable Planning Committee site meeting – at a time of year when the volume of traffic – both road and pedestrian – was significantly lower.

We’re advised that the developers undertook their own survey – over the new year.

In addition to the dangers generated by increased traffic, the other major point of objection to the scheme is the totally inadequate car park, planned to take just 13 vehicles. Think about it, 13 spaces to service a new Sainsbury’s supermarket, the Bay Leaf restaurant and Barrows butchers. Bear in mind that at certain times of the day all three businesses would be operating.

Currently the car park is used, on an ad hoc basis, by Wellington Road Garage to park customer vehicles awaiting M.O.T. or repair.

Possibly in a bid to get this business ‘on side’ we’re informed that the developer has paid them a visit and proposed that, following redevelopment, they could continue parking their vehicles there!

What the developer – and possibly Cheshire East – fail to understand is that opposition to the scheme has nothing whatsoever to do with loss of, or impact on business. Virtually all of the objections recorded relate to increased traffic, inadequate parking and pedestrian safety issues.

What beggars belief is that Cheshire East Highways department still claim not to see any problems. Thirteen years ago an independent report by consulting engineers and traffic planners, Singleton Clamp, condemned a pedestrian crossing scheme in the same location, saying it would be highly undesirable and potentially dangerous – owing to the limited sight lines, bus stop and weight of traffic.

As a result of this report that scheme was shelved.

Since the publication of that report hundreds of new houses have been built in Bollington, the population has multiplied and traffic has increased tenfold

One has to wonder if Cheshire East Highways department have ever visited the site – or even know where Bollington is – as no-one in their right mind, knowing the town, would ever contemplate this development.

Bollington has rarely witnessed such concerted opposition to a redevelopment scheme.

The local community doesn’t want it, the town council doesn’t want it.

If this scheme is sanctioned it will be a travesty – not only for planning process, but for the community and democracy.