“We’ve worked out that there is not a great deal of profit for the developers in this and we are going to make it as expensive for them as possible, and delay it for as long as possible. This is a strong and professional campaign to save the stadium.”
Bookmaker Simon Walmsley is doing a superb job coordinating the ‘Save Belle Vue’ campaign which is now expected to continue on through the summer months writes Floyd Amphlett.
The current situation is that application was made by Countryside Properties in December for 249 residences on the Belle Vue site. A application was originally due to be heard by the Manchester City planners in March, which was then delayed by a month, but has still not heard.
With the local elections due, it seems unlikely to be considered on the next possible date, May 30th, which would put the decision back a further month to June 27th . . . or even later.
Walmsley said: “The situation is, we have a strong campaign working alongside Steve Rees at Startrax Oval Racing; the stock car people have been fantastic. We have a petition organised by owner Alan Kershaw of over 1,500 signatures plus nearly 11,000 from the stock car people and hundreds of individual written objections; the council staff certainly know that we are serious.
“We realise that petitions only carry so much weight and we have backed it up with a series of questions for the planners who have then gone back to the developers for clarification.
“For example, we want to know what provisions have been made for a traffic impact survey and other effects on the local community. I must say, the planning officers are being very diligent in addressing our concerns. We have other objections and matters for them to consider, including some major ones that we haven’t yet lodged.
“There have been some frustrations in not being able to talk directly to the councillors to give our point of view. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, those councillors on the planning committee must remain impartial and cannot comment. Secondly, the local elections restrict access to the councillors, by law, for six weeks prior to them taking place.
“We have looked at the costings and value of the building, which includes 80 flats. Although house prices in Manchester have risen dramatically, Gorton is still a cheaper area.
“While we assume that Crown (stadium owners) can expect to make a substantial profit on the £2.5m that they bought the place for, there may not be a huge margin for the developers to make it worth their while.
“All I would ask everyone is this ‘If you have signed but know of one other person who hasn’t, we could double the number of signatures overnight.”
https://www.change.org/p/save-belle-vue-stadium
