CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Flixton's green belt from development say the council chiefs of 80 years ago had promised to preserve the village's open space - and their modern-day counterparts should honour that commitment.

The recently formed Save Flixton Green Belt is aiming to block town hall proposals to build houses on swathes of land in Flixton as part of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF).

The Save Flixton Gren Belt Facebook group - founded by Alan Tonner - has attracted 3,880 members within four weeks of being set up.

The land earmarked to be developed at Flixton Station includes the station and parts of William Wroe golf course.

Grade II-listed Flixton House and the playing fields, which are also in the green belt, will be declassified, but council leader Sean Anstee claims both will be ‘protected’.

But research carried out by Save Flixton Green Belt member, Michelle McGrath, reveals how this land was bought 80 years ago by the council on behalf of the residents of Flixton - and she says the documents show that the vast majority of the 218 acres bought was always intended to be open space.

Michelle claims that the council's plans to build 750 homes on green belt land in the village fly in the face of this promise by the civic leaders of the 1930s.

She said: "The council told us in 1935 that this was our land for all time.

"A loan of £69,793 was obtained on the strict proviso that the land was used for open spaces and allotments, with just fourteen and a half acres for housing.

"There is no legal covenant, as many people believe, but this is a moral covenant.

"Does this purchase and these words now mean nothing?"

She added: "I know they say they are going to call Flixton Park and Fields and Flixton House protected open space.

"But we believe that as this is not a recognised title, it means nothing.

"What is going to happen in 10 or 20 years' time? What is going to stop them going back on those words?

"Words are cheap for Trafford Council."

She continued: "We are not against the idea of new houses, we recognise we need them.

"But we don't want new houses slap, bang in the middle of our village. it will spoil the character of our village.

"The records show that this land was bought by the council for the people for all time - so get off our land."

Michelle spoke out after she unearthed minutes from Urmston Urban District Council dated April 6, 1935, which detail the purchase of the land, after the death of Samuel Worthington-Wright, the last owner of Flixton House.

The minutes referred to the "purchase of the Worthington-Wright estate at Flixton, an acquisition which had secured for the inhabitants of the district for all time 218 acres of land which could be put to valuable uses as open spaces, housing sites and allotment gardens."

Minutes from February 12 gave a breakdown of how this 218 acres was to be used. It said 14.5 acres was to be used for housing, 17.25 for allotments and 186.25 acres for 'public walks and pleasure grounds, street widening, new roads and surplus land and property'.

Then a brochure for the official opening of Flixton House after the purchase, on September 28, 1935, referred to Flixton House as being the 'property' of the 'inhabitants of the district'.

The brochure said of the land: "The conveyance to the council, completed in March of this year, ensure the preservation for all time of an extensive area of open spaces."

It added that: "It is a matter of satisfaction that whilst the district as a whole must inevitably (within the limits of town planning) become more and more urbanised as the years go by, the open spaces of this corner of the district will remain, if not untouched, at least unspoiled."

But leader of the council, Cllr Sean Anstee, claims the council is acting to protect green areas.

He said: “Trafford Council has sought to protect Flixton House and the surrounding area in the proposed land allocation precisely because it wants to see appropriate development that recognises the importance of such assets. 

"The GMSF is about controlling development in such a way that maximises protection of our green areas.

"If we did not put in place this plan then development decisions would be taken out of our hands with the potential for ensuing a development free for all.

"We are in consultation on these proposals and urge those with views on this to put them forward as part of the consultation which has been extended to January 16.

“The council has also researched the various easements and covenants on Flixton and there is not a registered restrictive covenant that requires the land to be kept for public use.”

*Comments about the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework plans can be made at gmsf-consult.objective.co.uk or emailed to gmsf@agma.gov.uk. You can post your comments to Greater Manchester Integrated Support Team, PO Box 532, Town Hall, Manchester, M60 2LA.