Hall Moss Fields action group rally toward objections deadline

Bramhall-based action group, Save Hall Moss Fields, are rallying for support ahead a deadline to object to a plan to build 250 new homes on green field land.

The group have worked tirelessly since the area was first earmarked for development, with Jones Homes proposing 250 new homes in the area, a plan which they see as entirely unsustainable.

Alan Burke, an active member of the group, recounted fighting these proposals and outlined the importance of opposition.

“We got a leaflet through our doors, those who live in the vicinity of these fields, from Jones Homes saying they intended to build 250 houses and asking if we have any comments we wanted to make. That was in February last year,” he said.

The final application was approved by Stockport Council at the end of November last year. The timing, however, coinciding with the consultation on the draft Stockport Local Plan and the Christmas period, presented challenges for the group.

Alan said: “We’ve only had three weeks within which to make our objections known, so it’s been a bit frenetic, trying to get the responses to the council.

“We’ve made our representations and we believe, having gone on the council’s planning portal, over 400 people have already made their objections formally known.”

On their website the group have outlined a series of conditions for objection that can guide others when objecting themselves.

Alan added: “This is green belt land. It’s been protected for 60, 70, 80 years as land that is important, agricultural land, open space. It is preventing towns from sprawling from one to another, encroaching on each other, just becoming one major south Manchester accommodation.

“We really don’t think it’s appropriate to take greenfield sites like this, just because the council has its housing numbers massively increased by the government.

“We think the urban areas should be able to work harder. You know, we should be putting houses where people currently live, where there is transport, where there is colleges, where there is schools, and not in the open countryside.”

Alan said it had been a long fight by residents: “It’s been such a long time, and because in the middle of all of this, Stockport were trying to update their local plan, that went out to consultation as well.

“We’ve been talking to all of our local community and they’ve objected to the consultation, then they’ve objected to the local plan which seeks to reallocate these fields as housing land, and now we’ve objected to this planning application. There’s a little bit of fatigue out there.”

Describing the work of the action group, he said: “We’re an informal group. We literally all met at a large meeting hosted by our MP. We sat and talked to each other and said we were fed up with the proposal. We said, why don’t we try and do something about it? So, we started meeting every couple of weeks.

“We issued 3,500 leaflets two weeks ago, just in the run-up to Christmas. We went out on the streets and posted them through people’s letterboxes, just reminding them that this application was now in and what they could do if they wanted to make a representation or an objection to it. We set out all the steps. We’ve tried to guide people best we can.”

In response, Jones Homes issued the following statement: “Nationally there is a well publicised housing shortage, this is severe in Stockport where, as of February 2025 the published demonstrable supply of housing land was only 1.77 years, instead of the required five years.  

“Stockport Council have recently moved forward with consulting on their local plan which seeks to address this problem.  The land Jones Homes have applied for permission to build on is a draft housing allocation. The land is also in a sustainable location with access to shops and services.  

“While national and local planning policy supports brownfield development, it is acknowledged nationally and locally that not all housing needs can be met on brownfield land. The development will provide much needed open market affordable rent and sale homes.

“The planning application submitted conforms with Stockport Council’s adopted planning policies and proposes to make the necessary infrastructure improvements, either physically of via a financial contribution to mitigate any impact arising from the development.”