Traffic wars: developer to build flats despite residents objections

A controversial block of flats is set to be built at a South Manchester Tesco car park even though the proposal faced hundreds of objections.

Last year Manchester City Council rejected Dandara Living’s (DL) proposal to build a block of flats, consisting of 75 apartments, near Tesco in East Didsbury, however, after submitting an appeal, planning inspector, Claire Searson, said the plans complied with policies.

The news comes after residents raised concerns about the impact the development, claiming it would cause serious environmental issues. Dubbed Blackbird Yard, the development would have traffic and parking on the already congested roads around it.

As a result, councillors voted against the scheme after town hall planners recommended that planning permission should be refused.  

However, the council’s planning department performed a U-turn after developer Dandara appealed the decision. The local authority said it would not defend its decision to refuse planning permission, leaving residents to oppose the development at a public inquiry which was held almost four weeks ago.

Following this, Claire Searson outlined how strange the situation was as no one from the town hall turned up to the hearing which took place at the Friends Meeting House. The government-appointed inspector has now allowed the development to go ahead.

In a report about the new apartment block, the inspector responded to claims that a document provided by the developer to address parking concerns was ‘erroneous’. She said the on-street parking survey ‘does not appear to be particularly robust’, noting that the number of spaces available on Parrs Wood Avenue was ‘overestimated’.

36 parking spaces would be provided within the development, leading to fears that those living in the new flats would park on the already busy roads nearby. But the inspector concluded that this would not be a ‘particularly attractive option’ because it is separated from the development site and therefore future residents of the flats wouldn’t be happy parking there.

Even though the inspector ruled that the area the flats are going to be built is on an already busy road filled with traffic, the developer has agreed to give the council £10,000 to put new parking restrictions in place. The agreement also includes making a fifth of the new apartments affordable.

Image: Leohoho