A SADDLEWORTH centre has been given the go ahead to get a climbing tower and ropes course reinstalled after three years.
Bosses at Castleshaw, on Waterworks Road near Delph, have been granted permission by Oldham Council to install structures that will rise about 13 metres, almost 40 feet, into the air.
And planning officers have allowed the plan as it will not impact the Green Belt it sits in.
In a report, they state: “The National Planning Policy Framework explains that a local planning authority should regard the construction of new buildings as inappropriate in the green belt, albeit subject to several listed exceptions which include, ‘provision of appropriate facilities for outdoor sport, recreation and for cemeteries, as long as it preserves the openness of the green belt and does not conflict with the purposes of including land within it.’
“As the proposed apparatus will be for outdoor sport/recreation on site, in conjunction with the use of the outdoor education centre, the development is acceptable.
“The apparatus will not be visible from within the tree covered outdoor area and will therefore have little impact on the visual amenity or wider landscape.
“As such, the implications for the openness and visual amenity of the Green Belt would be maintained.”
The new equipment will be located in a densely wooded area with several mature trees in close proximity.
Before work can start, a tree survey must be carried out as it is on council-owned land, a tender process for the work must be carried out.
Documents detailed what form it will take, stating: “This is to be a ‘higher level ropes course’ – approximately 13 metres high overall and consists of a climbing tower and a timber pole.
“A beam approximately 12 metres long is set to the top of the tower from which are attached various fixings for the suspension of ropes catering for different activities.
“A “Jacob’s ladder “is also suspended from the beam. Sited beneath the end of the beam is a timber “leap of faith “pole, capped with a platform, approximately 10.5 metres high.”
Saddleworth Parish Council recommended the application for approval when it was consulted.
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