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CAMPAIGNER Sareda Dirir
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Anger at covenant court U-turn
Kathryn Ryan10/ 4/2008
RESIDENTS fighting plans for a £1.5m housing development are fuming after the council did a U-turn on a promise to take the case to court.
Last year the council said they would take the residents fighting the plans for the site of the former Oakwood High School to a Declaratory Judgement.
This would have meant applying to the High Court for a judgement giving legal approval of the council’s intentions.
Residents have been opposing the development which they say should not be built because of a covenant on the park land in Park Lane, Irlams o’th’ Height, preventing it from being used for anything other than park land and recreational use.
They say they were first alerted to the U-turn last week after a letter was sent out from Councillor John Merry, Councillor Derek Antrobus and Councillor Keith Mann to residents living near the park.
The letter stated they would not be building on park land. The issue of whether the land was park land or not was at the centre of their legal battle which made residents suspicious that the council had backed down.
Lead campaigner Sareda Dirir tracked down Sir Peter Heywood, a descendant of the family who sold the land to the council more than a century ago with the covenant on it, to back their plight. She said they may not be going to court but they claimed a moral victory and still hope to win their battle.
Sareda added: "We have the moral high ground.
"The council has led us a merry dance and cost us a lot of money in legal fees, all we hope now is that they listen to public opinion and abandon their plans to overturn the historic covenant.
"It’s the right thing to do and it’s what Sir Peter’s family intended.
"That green space belongs to us."
Council leader Cllr Merry said: "Our letter was to allay people’s concerns who may have been unduly alarmed by campaign claims that we are going to develop on the park.
"We want to make it clear that the area of land people regard as Lightoaks Park is safe.
"In January the campaigners were made aware that we were unlikely to proceed to a Declaratory Judgement as this would entail undue cost to the taxpayer. The suggestion that we may be in contempt of court is therefore without foundation."
Standing alongside Cllr Antrobus in the Swinton North ward in the local elections next month are: Tamara Cooke, Lib Dems, and Shirley Walsh, Conservatives.
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