Dear Sirs,

I am writing to you with concerns about the mismanagement and proposed sale of Watling Gate and adjacent land in Newton Park, Timperley, by Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council.

The property was left to the Council on the understanding that it was used for educational purposes, and for many years it was used as Park Road School’s nursery. It was vacated in April 2004, when the nursery was incorporated into the school.  Although grade two listed, the building was left unsecured for a number of months, during which time it became a focal point for anti-social behaviour and was very badly vandalised.  Local complaints forced the Council to board up the windows, and erect a security fence around the building.  The security fence was tied to the building with string and the vandalism continued unabated.

The level of local concern about the level of anti-social behaviour occurring in and around the building, led the Council to hold a couple of local public meetings with a view to discussing what should happen to the building.  Nothing resulted from these meetings for almost a year.  Eventually, at the beginning of 2005, the Council asked the locals to set up a ‘Friends’ Group.  The group asked about taking over the building, but was told that it was in such a bad state that it would not survive another winter and there would not, therefore, be sufficient time to obtain grants. Consequently it decided not to pursue the matter, but the Council did nothing about advertising the building until November 2005, and is only now, in April 2006, finally notifying the public that it intends to sell it.  The preferred bid is for a yoga / pilates centre and housing with some parking.   The Council does not appear to be aware that the bidder is also a property developer.

At no time has the Council engaged in a meaningful consultation exercise with anybody as to what they feel should be done with the building and Park and does not appear to have considered the option of demolishing the building.  Newton Park falls within the Broadheath ward, but is on Park road in Timperley.  According the Council’s own assessment, Broadheath is slightly deficient in open space, whilst the adjacent area, Timperley is very deficient.  Moreover, because this area of Timperley is situated between two main roads, a brook and a canal, Newton Park is the only play area that can realistically be used by children in the area.  When advertising the land for sale, the Council did not feel that it could sell the building with the small area of land previously occupied by the nursery.  It supplied plans of the adjacent park and asked potential bidders how much of the park they would need to make a bid!  The successful bid will take over 3,000 metres from a two hectare park and so take it out of the calculation for open space.  

The building is situated at such a point in the Park that it effectively cuts the Park into three: a small area to the front, the main play area to the east and a field to the west.  Consequently the Park is not as well utilized as it could be, but the proposed sale will only make matters worse.  The front area will be cut into two, with the Park retaining the furthest part, which will effectively become useless and, consequently, very vulnerable to further development.  At the end of the last meeting of the Friends of Newton Park, the Councillor for Broadheath stated that she thought that this was the area being considered for later development.  The sale will also mean that the area to the west of the house will not be visible from the main park and will only be accessible via a narrow pathway between the house and the brook so that this area, too, is likely to be used even less than it is now.

I would, therefore, like to ask the following questions:

• Given that the Council knew for nearly two years prior to the event that the building was going to be vacant, why was no planning done at this time for either using it or disposing of it?
• Given that the building has deteriorated substantially in the two years that the Council vacillated, how much money has it lost compared to the revenue that the building could have generated two years ago?
• Given that the building in question is a grade two listed building and will require huge sums of money spending on it, has the Council assured itself that the preferred bidder’s business plan to ensure that the developer can make a profit from running it as a yoga centre rather than turning it into flats?
• Given that the Council is going through the motions of consulting the public and considering objections, why did the local councillor tell the Head of Park Road School that it was a done deal and why is the sale being advertised during the Easter break when those most affected by any sale are most likely to be away?
• How does the sale of the land fit in with Trafford’s UDP and policies on open spaces, especially in the light of the current obesity epidemic in the young?

I should be grateful for your assistance in this matter, as it seems to me that the Council has been, at best, incompetent and disingenuous in its dealings over Watling Gate and Newton Park.

Yours faithfully,