TO allow the building of 750 homes on the front nine holes of the William Wroe golf course in Flixton would destroy the whole course.

This would not only remove an excellent leisure facility but also destroy a valuable open space full of trees, grass and wild life which is effectively the ‘lungs’ of Flixton Village.

In an interview with Radio Manchester, I suggested that the council had not looked at other potential sites for house building including areas of current green belt in the vicinity which seemed, at present, to be low-grade farmland which wasn’t being farmed.

I also suggested that derelict factory sites and the like should be looked at.

Council Leader Sean Anstee was interviewed a little later the same day. He said it is just a “minor incursion” onto the green belt.

Ask the local Flixton residents of how they feel about this “minor incursion” which will rob them of a large amount of their current open space.

When one considers the almost total local opposition to the plan, one needs to enquire why such a daft scheme was put forward in the first place. I’ll try to explain why I think it is so.

If you Google ‘750 Homes’ you will produce numerous hits from all round the country.

When I did so, the first page included links to the following five items: Oxford Brookes Wheatley Site – 750 Homes?; Plans approved for 750 homes on edge of Canterbury; Major 750 home development in Solihull gets green light; 750 homes near Blythe valley Business Park give green light; Glasgow to receive 750 new homes in £60 million boost.

The simple reason is that a proposal to build a minimum 750 homes in Housing Zone will attract government investment funding to the developer, amounting to several thousand pounds per new home built.

The usual density for new house building in the UK is about 12 homes per acre. For 750 homes, therefore, about 62.5 acres will be needed.

The price of prime building land in the Flixton area may be expected to be between £600,000 and £1 million per acre.

The council, by selling off the front nine of William Wroe golf course will expect to receive between £37.5 million and £62.5 million from the developer.

So it’s all really down to greedy politicians seeing the opportunity to swell the council’s coffers. No wonder they can’t be bothered looking for other sites to build on.

David Medford,
Secretary of the William Wroe Golf Society