Stockport refuses MAN’s Mirrlees Fields project

Plans for 200 houses and a country park next to the manufacturer’s Hazel Grove base were stymied, while  refreshed plans for Springmount Mill were approved.

The Mirrlees plans, consulted on in 2020 and lodged in outline in summer 2021, have been controversial from the outset, rousing local opposition.

Seven votes were cast in favour of refusal and five against, after the project had taxed Stockport’s committee for the lion’s share of its two-hour session.

MAN owns the 64 acres of land north of its Hazel Grove base, and put forward proposals to develop up to 200 homes and a country park, which it said would be open to the public with “unfettered access”.

The firm’s professional team was led by Asteer Planning and 5plus.

In May 2021, MAN agreed in principle to transfer 43 acres to the Land Trust for the park element of the scheme. The balance of the site would allow for 10 acres to be developed for housing and 11 acres to be allocated as open space to service the homes.

However, the site has various protections, being classed as strategic open space in the core strategy and “green chain” in the unitary development plan in a part of the borough lacking in alternative greenspace.

These classifications were cited by councillors, with one noting that the benefits of the development would not outweigh the “significant harm” done.

The project’s reference number on Stockport’s planning portal is DC/081719.

Springmount Mill’s progress was serene in comparison.

Carpenter Investments’ proposals, passed at local area committee in November, are for 202 PRS apartments at a site it has been trying to unlock since 2017.

Storm damage prompted a rethink on the project’s first iteration, while the developer has now argued successfully that in order for the scheme to be viable (there are significant remediation costs), Stockport’s requirement for affordable housing should be removed.

The application number for the Carpenter scheme is DC/079227.