Lydgate development finally allowed after series of rejections

A LONG-RUNNING row over land at Lydgate linked to the suffragette movement has seen a house finally allowed to be built on it.

Simon Leigh had been told by Oldham Council he could not construct a property on the area of Stockport Road.

However, an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate has been successful, meaning the area next to an existing home can be used.

And a year after the initial refusal, an inspector’s report detailed how it went through.

It dismisses any link with nearby St Anne’s Church and The White Hart pub, both of which are listed buildings.

Even though a ceremony was held marking the area to be the site of the first recorded meeting of the suffragette movement, no evidence has been provided to back that up.

The report states: “Several interested parties have referred to the field, in which the site is located, as being historically and politically significant in terms of its connection with the suffragette movement.

“Evidence in the form of photographs of an un-erected memorial stone have been provided.

“However, no contextual evidence has been provided to confirm the connection to this particular field.

“The evidence, in the absence of a conservation appraisal, confirms that the appeal site has no specific historical functional relationship with the listed buildings.

“The appeal site represents a small part of the overall field that helps to create the

open aspect of the setting of the heritage assets.

“Furthermore, the dwelling would sit at the furthest part of the field from the heritage

assets and at a much lower level due to the substantial topographical change.

“The siting and ground height of the proposal would ensure it is in-keeping with the

properties adjacent to it, creating a continuity of the existing built form.

“The proposal would preserve the character and appearance of the area and the positive contribution that the open aspect of the wider field makes.”

Concerns the land sits in the green belt and traffic issues were also dismissed as the saga took another twist.

The Stockport Road site has been the centre of planning concerns for several years, with the original application to build three properties.

That was rejected by Oldham Council and then the Planning Inspectorate – and two more refusals were given to plans for a single property.

However, the last decision to turn it down, made on June 10, 2024, has been overturned, despite 35 letters of objection from residents, plus Saddleworth Parish Council saying it is against on the grounds that the proposed building will be totally out of character with the surrounding area in the green belt.

Objectors highlighted the site’s significance – the field is believed to be the site of the first women’s suffrage meeting on May 4, 1818.

One comment said: “It is also on a site of very significant historical importance for women’s suffrage, female emancipation, working class suffrage, radicalism and liberalism, and the land need to be preserved to celebrate these movements.
“We will not be beaten, we will preserve this land for our village, for women and for history.”

However, the Planning Inspectorate has given the go ahead, imposing a range of conditions including the property must be built to ‘accessible and adaptable building regulations standards to ensure that the aspirations of the council.’