Mirrlees Fields Friends Group
About Mirrlees Fields
Mirrlees Fields is currently a privately owned open space thriving with wildlife, situated in the heart of suburban Stockport.
Formerly a sports ground for the employees of Mirrlees Blackstone which included tennis courts, a rifle range, and a golf course it fell into disuse in the eighties and although private property it has been widely used by the local community for recreation, dog walking etc.
The site also contains an Anglers Pool, built on the site of the original Tennis Courts, this is currently leased to the Mirrlees Angling Society. This society is separate to the Friend’s Group, having its own committee which holds regular meetings.
The current landowner MAN Energy Solutions recently decided to sell the land and went on to offer a deal which would see the majority of it managed by a land trust and opened up to the public for recreational use, the caveat being that a development of up to 200 houses would be built on the ‘big field’.
Planning Permission Granted
MAN Energy submitted their appeal last year and the Inquiry closed on 14th November 2023. The Planning Inspectorate announced their decision on 24th January 2024, and outline planning permission to build up to 200 homes has now been granted.
The development will result in around 18.3 hectares of the land becoming publicly accessible in the form of Public Open Space. The land will be transferred to, and managed by the Land Trust and will be fully funded by MAN Energy Solutions. The transfer of land will be secured by a planning obligation.
The Friends Group has been in dialogue with the developer Kellen Homes, whilst the planning appeal was ongoing, and we are delighted that they have expressed an interest in engaging further with us to get public input which could potentially shape what is built.
Once the sale is complete and it is formally decided which charity will be taking ownership of the public open space, the Friends Group will seek to engage with them to ensure that the land is managed appropriately.
Planning Considerations
The inquiry highlighted the benefits of having over 20 hectares of private land being opened up to the public with appropriate funding to maintain it in perpetuity. Consideration was also given to the “fallback position” where there is a real risk that the owners will sell the land and that there is no evidence that local residents, organisations or trusts could buy and manage the site.
Bittersweet Victory
Whilst this is what we have been striving for, it’s a bittersweet victory, not a celebration. It is realization of our aims and objectives in relation to safeguarding access in perpetuity to the majority of the fields. It’s also the starting gun for engagement with the developer to maximise positives and minimise negative impacts of the development, and with the Land Trust to ensure the fields are kept as we want them.
We would all have much preferred the fields to stay as they were (but with legal access), however that was not one of the options on the table. At least we can breathe out now, safe in the knowledge that there will always now be a big old chunk of nature that is protected forever.
The decision is made, so now is the time to put our differences aside, and work together to create a space for us all to enjoy, where nature can continue thrive.