Mr & Mrs Sinclair

Egerton House

9 Victoria Crescent

Ellesmere Park

Eccles

M30 9AN

 

 

 

Melinda Edwards

Law and Administration Customer and Support Services

Salford Civic Centre

Chorley Road

Swinton

M27 5DA

 

21st July 2006

 

Ref: H/ME/PD/STC/2294/ET

 

Dear Melinda Edwards,

 

Further to the retrospective Road Closure application with the above reference please note our objections listed below.

 

1)     The highway has a high volume of both pedestrian and cycle traffic everyday. It is a main route for children attending the schools listed below

 

·        Wentwoth High school

·        Clarendon Primary school

·        Brantwood preparatory

·        Clarendon Cottage Preparatory

·        Clarendon Cottage Nursery

·        Nutkins Nursery

·        Eccles College

 

The cycle route is part of the national cycle network route 55 a policy adopted by the council. Any closure of the road would severely prejudice this route. The route is used daily by commuters and recreational cyclists travelling from Monton over Quaker Bridge and down Ellesmere Road in to Eccles Town Centre or vice versa. The pathway is 56 inches/ 1.42metres in width with a bollard in the centre making it inaccessible for pedestrians and cyclists to pass alongside each other. Parents with buggies also have difficulties passing and indeed wheelchair access is impossible.

 

2)     The closure would be against advice and guidelines from Greater Manchester Police and Central Government for designing out crime. Again this is a policy adopted by the Council for the benefit of the public which has been updated as recently as July 2006 to reinforce the need for public spaces to be (quoted from Salford City Councils designing out crime brochure):

 

 

·        Be as wide as possible

·        Have clear vision into; along and out of the footpath;

 

Footpaths and walkways to be avoided are those:

 

·        With sharp corners, tunnels or places of concealment;

·        With narrow sections and enclosed by walls

·        Obscured by planting /landscaping

 

As the road has been closed unlawfully for a number of years the above advice is clearly not being heeded and the legalising of the highway in the current condition would be against these guidelines.

Please see the photographs below.

 

 

 

It should be noted that the site fence which has been in situ for several years has recently been removed by the owners but this may not be a permanent arrangement and clearly coincides with this application. The grassed area has been deemed not part of the highway which is contested but for the purposes of this application we must assume that the grassed area is not part of the public right of way.  

 

Below is how the Highway used to look as the historic main gateway in to Ellesmere Park from Eccles: These photographs have been taken from the Local History Library

 

  

 

3)     The highway is situated in the Ellesmere Park Conservation Area. Again there are Council policies for the protection of the area with a recent SPD (supplementary planning Document) to compliment the original policy. This closure would prejudice the area and the recognised features and character for preserving. Quoting from the SPD:

 

·        2.2 Today the character of the core of Ellesmere Park is much the same as a century ago, with large Victorian houses set in generous grounds, on long straight, and wide tree lined streets. The adjoining area of more modest Victorian and later residential development compliments Ellesmere Park’s spacious character.

·        2.3 Building layouts based on strong building lines and a sense of spaciousness between buildings;

·        2.9 The remaining parts of the conservation area, which surrounds the Victorian core area , form important entrances and gateways into Ellesmere Park. The buildings are more modest but still of high quality and the landscape theme of trees, boundary walls and front gardens is continued. Clarendon Garden, on Clarendon Crescent, is the only area of public open space in the Conservation Area. A strong walking and cycling route linking all the Ellesmere Park sub-areas with Eccles and Monton runs alongside Clarendon Gardens, via a footpath from Victoria Crescent to Ellesmere Road.

 

Issues facing Ellesmere Park :

 

·        3.4 Design and materials of new developments and extension being out of keeping with existing developments:

·        3.4 The loss of trees and other landscaping

·        3.6 Developments should be in character with the wider area

·        3.6 Better control needed over boundary controls to maintain consistent style

·        3.6 Better maintenance of roads and footpaths, street furniture and signs

·        3.6 Better maintenance of street trees and grass verges

·        3.6 Open spaces should be protected from development.

 

 

 

4)     The closure is unnecessary. Access to the property concerned would be easily possible without the closure. The only reason to close the road is for the betterment of the one new build property at the expense of the original Victorian properties the historic gateway and the Conservation Area as a whole as well as the general pubic who have enjoyed the use of the highway for over 140 years. It is and has always been subject to a high volume of traffic and as such cannot be deemed as unnecessary.   

 

 

The brochures and SPD information is all available at Salford City Council’s offices at  Emerson House, Eccles.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr & Mrs Sinclair