The photo above was taken on April 20th., 2021. It clearly shows the current status at Newgate Kennels with massive ongoing subsidence. We are aware that there are further properties in the area that are also having problems but this picture really does tell a story.
Cheshire County Council were first alerted to the problem in 1997 when a Hydrological report was submitted to CCC by The Environmental Consultancy of the University of Sheffield. It said this situation could be expected if peat extraction continued, unless mitigation measures were put in place.
Unfortunately, despite fine words from CCC, the conditions they assured us would be 'rigorously enforced' in 2003 were allowed to be ignored by the extractor, Croghan Peat. Over the years Saltersley Common Preservation Society (SCPS) have commissioned various reports in an effort to bring some sort of control to the continued destruction of the peat bog allowed by CCC, CEC and Croghan Peat Ltd.
These include two reports by Derek Gow, foremost UK authority on Water Voles, who said on his last visit 'I have never seen a site so comprehensively trashed'. An arboricultural report to investigate why so many oak trees are leaning and falling on Rotherwood Road; this is because of constant fluctuations in the water table. And finally an hydrogeological report which disproved the biggest lie that CEC have used.
They have always said it couldn't be proved that the subsidence was caused by the peat extraction. They even used this excuse when found guilty of maladministration by the Local Government Ombudsman in 2012. Every report has been ignored.
We now have a situation where, at a Strategic Planning Board meeting in December 2019, they presented spurious evidence in favour of granting planning permission for 14 houses to Croghan Peat Ltd., the very company they have allowed to destroy the peat bog. Evidence that directly contradicted UK Deformation figures showing massive subsidence on and around the peat bog and contained in the hydrogeological report.
Now, whilst Croghan Peat, CEC and the proposed builder argue about the size of the houses, the water table drops further, drying out the peat taking with it the surrounding land. Meanwhile, Newgate Kennels (employer of over 40 locals) struggle to keep their buildings safe for use at great expense. They have issued a notice of a claim against Croghan Peat for nuisance but this is being stonewalled. Probably in the hope that they (Croghan) will offload their responsibilities beforehand.
Anthony Evans
Saltersley Common Preservation Society
Comments
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Such incompetence by the Council, its staff and councillors , supposedly in charge, and also the total lies, which tarnishes the reputation of the council, in any private business would have been sacked for total mismanagement, and deservedly so. The number of lies that we are told by the council, have got to the stage, where a clean sheet is necessary, all redacted reports published, and other matters, where it is said, "we do not show the contracts and quotes", which makes one think WHY????
Peter Davenport
Please pay more attention!
The elections on 06 May 2021 in this neck of our [thinning, dying off and sparse] woods are not for Cheshire East councillors but for the Town Council & the Police Commissioner.
I am, however, heartened by your apparent enthusiasm for what might be described in the USA as 'ass kicking' and suggest you polish your boots, tighten your laces and get kicking.
If you are unsure as whose ‘ass’ to kick and where they might be hiding the following link will be really useful.
https://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ecminutes/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
If you are in the Lacey Green ward, your councillor is Don Stockton who has been a councillor since 2008 and so should have quite a bit of experience of what has been going on at the Lindow peat bog. In the distant past, I remember him doing a supportive doorstep visit with our then MP Neil Hamilton [of the brown envelope fame] when he was after general election votes and so could have been interested in local politics way back in the 80’s when peat extraction was well under way - Lindow Man was found in 1982. Send Don an email to ask anything you might wish to know he could be your man.
Jeff Clarke (@anserecology) is the ecologist undertaking surveys on the Moss just now, which presumably will feed into the restoration plans and we assume this means that the restoration should begin later in the year.
Last year, we did a survey of 431 local residents who visit the Moss. 99.3% wanted more clarity from CEC about the restoration and 98.6% wanted local residents to be consulted in the plans for restoration. The free text comments show the value of the Moss to local people and are available at https://transitionwilmslow.co.uk/lindow-moss/
There is so much potential for the engagement of the whole community on a restored Lindow Moss, a site of enormous historical, archaeological and environmental significance. Part of the planning consent includes the formation of a Liaison Committee to foster good communication between residents, CEC and the owners of the Moss. Let’s hope CEC establish that committee, with real local representation, as soon as possible. If anyone would like to attend our next Lindow Moss Community Forum meeting in June, please let me know at
Pippa Jones from Transition Wilmslow rightly mentions that there has been a very long history of neglect and inaction over the destiny of Lindow Moss.
I am the local councillor working on this urgent restoration project and I and many residents are waiting for the imminent decision on planning application 20/5271M from Cheshire East Council. If approved, work on building these 14 houses can begin on Lindow Moss Peat Farm at the western end of Moor Lane.
An agreement with Bowden Homes would then trigger the "signing off" of a number of planning conditions between Cheshire East Council (who are the Minerals Planning Authority) and the current owners of Lindow Moss which must happen before any work on restoring the peat bog can begin. Transition Wilmslow and other community action groups will certainly be involved in this detailed and complex restoration process.
We all want Lindow Moss returned to the raised natural wetland which it was many thousands of years ago but we have to be patient and wait for events to unfold.
Iain Macfarlane
Cheshire East Council
Wilmslow West & Chorley
Transition Wilmslow have also issued misleading information on this website when they claimed that restoration work had already started, which was not the case.
CEC (in succession to Cheshire County Council [CCC], apparently the Minerals Planning 'authority' in this issue) should have taken the present site owners (Crohgan Peat) to court years ago for wilful damage/neglectful usage of the land - and meantime suspended their licence to legally extract peat. There is a dialogue of evidence to support mis-management of extraction rights (and undermining of efforts to measure/police that evidence). Instead they either ignored (or perhaps conspired) to allow them to go their merry profitable way?
What is being debated here/now is the result of a hapless council (CEC) being held to ransom - by an already discredited (but for some unfathomable reason, un-pursued) dodgy business operation - subsequently seeking to obtain planning permission on a protected site for commercial gain (in part to fund obligatory restitution work). In simple terms, "if you don't allow us to build X, we will leave the site (for a further 10-20 years, someone here will no doubt tell us the exact term) to rot (sink and dry out)" and "we will not meantime restitute the land" (using their own funding as owners Crohgan would be obliged to do).
If the arm twisting didn't work it doesn't take rocket science to suppose Crohgan could be otherwise long gone as an entity - CEC could have done something to prevent that, but they didn't bother.
You simply couldn't make it up. It's an environmental, ecological and historically important disaster area - and CEC, the people we pay to manage the County, (the Minerals Planning Authority!!) allowing it to happen. Not only that, they are daft enough to roll over and and grant planning permission to the land owner for housing to built (and funding to raised from a developer, Bowdon Homes) on otherwise protected but environmentally trashed land - that is CEC adding insult to injury and Crohgan Peat getting away with highway robbery and vandalism - two fingers up to everybody and laugh all the way to the bank.
Well done CEC....
Like some others in charge criminal charges could be coming your way!
The owners of Croghan Peat Ltd., are Mr. Rowland and Mr. Bond who also own E.J. Godwin Peat Supplies, among other companies, and are based in Meare, Somerset.
They are just as unpopular because of their activities there as well as in Wilmslow.