Councillor sparks controversy after branding opponents of plans for a new school ‘NIMBYs’
| Published date | 19 March 2021 |
| Publication title | Manchester Evening News: Web Edition Articles (England) |
Dubbed the Edgar Wood Academy, it will be built on land off Heywood Old Road, between Birch and Bowlee.
‘Outline planning permission’ -which established the principle of developing the land and plans for a new access road -had already been approved by the committee in October.
However -as at that earlier meeting -there was angry public opposition to the scheme when councillors met on Thursday night to decide on full planning permission.
Furious objectors Jillian Grisdale and Colin O’Neill said the council had ignored their concerns over wildlife and traffic, and used ‘underhand tactics’ to thwart their opposition to the scheme.
Ms Grisdale said officers’ presentation to councillors was ‘a total farce’ and the authority had done nothing more than ‘pay lip service’ to the public consultation.
However, Coun Faisal Rana accused objectors of being NIMBYs -an acronym meaning ‘not in my back yard’.
He said: “The issue I see is that ‘yes we want the school but not in my backyard’.
“But if everyone keeps saying that we will not have a school anywhere.
“I’m quite confident with the discussion we have heard from the highways officers. They have looked at everything and I’m sure they have done their homework and everything will be right with regards to the traffic.
“A similar example I can give, for instance, we are thinking of having a university at Hopwood Hall [College] maybe in the future.
“If people start objecting to that [and saying] ‘no we don’t want it here Manchester Road is only small, there will be so much traffic here as well’, we will not have anything in Rochdale.”
A furious Ms Grisdale said his comments were ‘outrageous’ before apparently having her mic switched off.
Prior to Coun Rana’s comments, Ms Grisdale said she had planned to present pictures of wildlife -including a family of deer -at the application site, but the council had ‘moved the goalposts’ at the last minute and would not allow it.
“It’s underhand tactics again,” she said.
The Wrigley Fold resident also claimed an earlier presentation by council officers was a ‘total farce’ and that the decision was a ‘fait accompli’.
She added that greenery had already been removed from the site by contractors that had ‘decimated’ the site.
“I think the standard method of operation of Rochdale council is to...
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