Residents outraged as planning granted amidst traffic ‘bedlam’

A planning proposal for three new homes to be built on a pub car park has sparked outrage in a community plagued by more than two decades of parking “bedlam”.

Permission was granted for the new three-bed flats to take up 15 car parking spaces outside The Grapes in Lees. 

Bar chain and developers Punch Tavern argue that the homes would only displace a small number of cars from the private car park. 

But fuming residents say the project would worsen a “diabolical” congestion issue on the adjacent Medlock Way, which campaigners have been trying to address for 25 years. 

Cllr Helen Bishop, who spoke as a resident of the area, said: “Traffic congestion and parking conditions are already at critical levels in the area. 

“Passing this will be a smack in the face for those who have been campaigning for years for action to be taken to make the roads around Medlock Way safer.” 

The cul-de-sac is home to two primary schools with around 600 pupils, two nursing homes and at least three businesses.

According to residents, this means that especially during school drop-off and pick-up times, the area descends into “carnage”, with gridlock traffic on narrow, parked-up lanes. 

Natalie Mills, a resident who regularly drives a longer detour home to avoid the jams, told the LDRS.: “Cars are at a standstill, people are losing their temper, beeping, swearing, mounting the curb. If they had to back up for an ambulance or fire engine – they just couldn’t.

“This is just going to exacerbate the situation even more.”

Bishop noted she’d “witnessed more than once blue lights being prevented from accessing the care home for over 15 minutes due to the traffic chaos”.  

Parents in the area have also raised concerns about road safety in the area, with reports of drivers frequently mounting the curbs at speed or creating blindspots through illegal parking. 

The council have been working on a School Street scheme to address the traffic issues in the area. But the process keeps getting delayed, according to ward councillors. 

The situation is worsened when the pub is holding events and patron cars spill out from the 32 private parking spaces onto the surrounding streets, claims Coun Sam Al-Hamdani. 

And with these parking spaces almost halved due to the new-build, the councillor for Saddleworth West argued the development would cause a “cumulative impact” on the already overcrowded street parking at these times. 

The developer disagreed. A representative for Punch Taverns said: “You’ll note the application is supported by the council’s highway officer who states the proposal is unlikely to have any adverse impacts on the existing situation.

“The operator considers that the retained number of parking spaces will be sufficient for the scheme. 

“School drop off and pickup times are not the same as peak times.” 

The proposal received ten last-minute objections from residents and a call for refusal by Saddleworth Parish Council.

But the plans were ultimately approved by a vote of six to five after the proposal was put forward for approval by independent councillor for Shaw Marc Hince.