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All for one in fight to halt racecourse

21/12/2001

THREE residents groups have banded together to oppose plans for a racecourse in Worsley.

And, they say if their campaign fails, Worsley can expect to become a gridlocked nightmare that will prove both dangerous and disruptive to villagers.

The three groups, Worsley Village Community Association, Boothstown Residents' Association and Worsley Civic Trust are all united against the scheme.

And they expect hundreds of people to turn up and voice their concerns at two public meetings scheduled to take place in January.

Plans for a multi-million pound leisure park with the racecourse at its heart, have been submitted to Salford City Council by landowners Peel Holdings, who also developed the Trafford Centre. They include a 6,000-person grandstand, 300-bed hotel and an eco village with ecology workshops.

The 2,000 acre site earmarked to become the new 'Salford Forest Park' would be built on Worsley Moss, part of historic Chat Moss, which stretches from Worsley to Glazebury near Warrington.

Ann Broomhead, secretary of Worsley Civic Trust, told us: "When I first heard about the plan I was all for it as I thought Peel were going to open the area up to people. But the more I look into it the more I feel Peel have not done nearly enough homework.

"They have not been able to tell us how many racing days there would be, whether there would be pop concerts and antique fairs on the site, and the traffic implications are horrendous. If there was a race day on the same day as a football match at United or a cricket match at Old Trafford we would be completely hemmed in."

She and the village association's chairman Robin Garrido are also concerned about the size of the development, which is on green belt land.

He said: "All three of the groups believe this would be a blight on the whole area, and that it is an improper use of green belt land, which is not compatible with government policy."

Insisting that traffic implications would mean chaos on the roads, Mr Garrido said the three groups were rejecting Peel traffic plans, which featured three routes to the leisure park - a new road from Queen's island, an entrance off Leigh Road, and a new spur of the M60 at the Worsley junction. Instead, he said if plans did go ahead, the three groups were calling for a new railway station to be built on the Manchester-Liverpool line, and a road in from the M62, which would avoid Worsley village.

However, in their plans, Peel insist the traffic issue can be dealt with satisfactorily.

The first public meeting has been arranged for Thursday, January 24 at St Mark's Church, Worsley when Salford planning officers have been invited to attend. A second public meeting has been planned for Monday, January 28 at the British Legion, in Boothstown.