Those of you who are not connected via our Facebook Group, may be unaware of what is happening on the fields at the moment, so this is a little explanation of events as they are unfolding…
Kellen Homes (the developer) became the owners of Mirrlees Fields on 2nd December. On 8th December work started on clearing trees, the areas being focussed on are mainly for the main access via Mirrlees Drive (near the MAN offices) and this week trees have been cleared to make way for the emergency access road onto Flowery field, once constructed this road will not be general access, it will have gates, a barrier or drop bollards, SMBC have yet to sign off on the final design.
As you will know, work on the actual build cannot commence until the open space has been handed over to the charitable body that will be looking after it along with the endowment to cover upkeep in perpetuity, this has still not been agreed as the Land Trust who were lined up for this role has now asked for more money. There is another contender, a charity called Trust Green, but SMBC has yet to sign off on this too.
Kellen homes are probably jumping the gun a little with the tree clearance, since things move very slowly within the council so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if this takes months to sort out. If that were the case however, then we would be into nesting season and they wouldn’t be allowed to fell trees, that is likely the reason that why they are getting it out of the way now.
There is also still some negotiation required between the developers and SMBC in terms of construction traffic during the build. Unsurprisingly the developer would like to use Flowery Fields as an access point for heavy plant whilst the build is in progress, SMBC have refused their application for access for the entire duration of the build, but it seems probable that access will be permitted for a few weeks whilst the road itself is constructed.
The group are now in contact with the construction manager who is in charge of the building phase, and we are arranging to have fixtures such as the composite benches, one bicycle sculpture and the noticeboard currently sited near the Kinross entrance to be removed and stored safely whilst works are in progress.
Ecologists are monitoring a nearby badger sett to assess if it is still active, and the construction team are aware that they may not use heavy machinery within 30m of the sett.
We will continue to update this page with further developments.
Tags:Kellen HomesMFFGMirrlees FieldsProtect our WildlifeSouth Manchester Badger GroupStockportThe Land Trust