Travelodge/Submarine plan vanishes...(or sinks without trace)

We were going to write about this in depth (approximately 4 fathoms), especially after David Jones' gushing article in last week's Glossop Chronicle. But it seems that Cllr Anthony McKeown has told us that Shepherd Developments has withdrawn it's plan for a Submersible Travelodge in Hadfield, presumably now that the Environment Agency have objected once again.

So for now, we can only sit back and smile at David Jones' blurb saying that High Peak Borough Council is 'committed to promoting Glossop as a holiday destination' - yes, lots of people want to stay at a 'luxury' hotel that is slap bang next to a huge roundabout & main road (Glossop Spur) and not far from a load of ugly grey industrial development (Etherow & Rossington Park). Lots of business people needing a stop off a (soon to be) motorway on their way to somewhere else that is...

There's little doubt that Shepherd Developments will re-submit their application again - this project is pinned to hopes that the Glossop Spur planning application will be renewed by the end of this year. How that can happen with the increasing risk of regular floods - and the opposition that will be mustered by anti-bypass activists - remains to be seen.

Woolley Bridge Floods

This week's floods in the Glossop area have again been big news, with articles in both the Advertiser & Chronicle.

But the only hint of a wider view of this problem came in the Advertiser, with a quote from a resident of Woolley Lane:

"We told the council when a new house was built next door two years ago that this area was a flood plain"

Indeed. There's a new housing development being built not far from the flooded area, as well as a Hotel/Travelodge as we reported previously (and whose previously blocked planning proposal is being resurrected - a report will come soon).

So it'll be really interesting to see what happens if the Glossop Spur is built, because the river Etherow tends to burst its banks all along the area where the roundabout from the A57 will be. The picture above gives a projected view of what the possible road signs will need to indicate, because this is the third time major flooding has occurred here this century...

Where do they build Travelodges?

If anyone has any doubts that Hadfield is doomed and Oldham & the Highways Agency want a motorway through Longdendale, all they need to do is go to High Peak Borough Council's planning website.

There they will find a planning application (full plans can be downloaded) for a 40-bed Hotel, alongside the point the Glossop Spur is supposed to join the A57. The Hotel will have 120 car parking spaces and measure 1525 square meters in floorspace. It will have 15 employees, and feature a bar and restaurant (both separate, i.e. like a Little Chef or Burger King at Travelodge hotels), and will be open 24 hours a day.

Sound familiar? If you've every visited a Travelodge or similar hotel, this fits the description. And why build such a place? Well, you find them at the end of motorways or alongside major dual carriageways or similarly very busy roads.

What's surprising is that outline planning permission was granted in 1999, and renewed in 2004. The current plan has been under 'consultation' since 6th July this year, and it expires tomorrow, 27th July.

You can object here ('comment on this application' button). Sorry, make that you should if you care about the area and live in and around Hadfield and don't want it to turn into a disaster area. Schemes like this and Rossington Park need to be stopped and/or strangled. If you think the Bypass and Spur are really about alleviating traffic and you know about plans like these (which suggest anything but good intentions), you are dreaming...

Incidentally, the Company proposing the development, Shepherd Developments, belong to the Shepherd Group, who describe themselves as one of the "largest privately owned group(s) in the European building sector". A subsidiary company is Portakabin, no less. No small fish then, in fact a big fish looking for a big pond. To pollute...