Manchester’s planning committee will look at a proposal from the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) to create a 9,000-space car park. The 28-acre piece of property is a former green belt area.
The proposal was recommended for approval last month. The decision was deferred so that members of the planning committee could conduct a site visit.
More than 2,000 people have signed petitions and 34 more have written to the council expressing their opposition to the plan. They had concerns about the loss of the open space, as well as the congestion and pollution the new car park would bring.
For their part, MAG says that it needs the site, which is bounded by Styal Road, Ringway Road and Shadowmoss Road, because its Airport City scheme will use some of the existing parking space allotment. There are currently 23,000 spaces but it predicts that 7,100 more will be needed in the next 12 months.
The land was classed as green belt until last summer. At that point, it was removed after a long-term development plan was adopted by the council since it would be required by the airport.
The planning committee released a report which admitted there would be some impact arising from the development. It also stated that the associated landscaping treatment throughout the site would serve to mitigate against the loss of the existing “poor quality landscape features.”
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