Special exemption area for Jewish people approved in wealthy village

A controversial plan to erect an eruv, a sacred area for Jewish people, in one of the wealthiest British villages has been approved despite receiving over a thousand objections from locals. 

Hundreds of locals in Hale, near Altrincham, Greater Manchester which is home to Premier League footballers, TV stars and multi millionaire business tycoons, have complained about proposals from a synagogue.

The synagogue's plans involve installing 52 poles, each up to 18 feet high, in 26 different roadsides  and footpaths across a 12-mile stretch of land in the wealthy village. 

An eruv is an area exempt from ancient Jewish laws dating back to the 7th century which forbids the carrying or pushing of items outside private areas on Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath, which lasts between sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

House keys, medication, food and even babies are among the items which cannot be carried outside an eruv, while pushing wheelchairs or using walking sticks is also forbidden.

Complainants opposed the proposals, warning the Labour-run Trafford council that the Jewish eruv could spark 'religious divisions'  and would damage the 'community cohesion' of their secular neighbourhood.

Some households even received leaflets which criticised the plans for the 'permanent religious boundary' adding that it was 'for a tiny minority'. 

Objectors said if the plans - the third of its type filed in just ten years - were to get the go-ahead 8,000 homes would be affected by the 'religious enclave.' 

Henry Guterman MBE, the former President of the Manchester Jewish Representative Council who fled the Nazis in the 1930s, also pleaded for the plans to be rejected. 

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Despite hundreds of objections from locals, plans have since been given the go-ahead on Thursday by the council's planning committee who dismissed some of the complaints as 'racist'. 

In total Trafford council's planning website received 672 comments in relation to the proposal, whilst 409 objection letters were sent as well as a petition opposing the eruv which had 160 signatures.  

Fifty seven letters were filed in support of the plans

However it later emerged several objections regarding the scheme had been removed due to alleged 'anti Semitic' content.

Property developer Mark Guterman, who lives locally alleged the wider Jewish community wanted the plans to be brought to a halt.

He added: 'With the heightened tensions of the Middle East and anti-Semitism on the rise, a small group of vigilantes are fronting for Hale Synagogue.

'This has made life much more uncomfortable for Jews that live in the area and it is destroying years of inter-faith work, for what purpose? 

'We have been advised that seven or eight members of the Hale community would use the eruv. 

'We would not be opposed if there was a demand for the eruv, for say a couple of hundred people, but there is no need for it at the moment.'

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Earlier Owain Sutton, Green Party councillor for Hale, described the argument for the eruv as a 'sensitive and complex case'.

'Many people have asked genuine questions about the eruv, but sadly we have also seen antisemitism come to the fore,' he said.

'So much so, it was necessary for the planning department to remove representations from the website.

'We are proud of the rich diversity across Hale, and the small minority who discriminate are far outnumbered by those who always welcome and appreciate people from all backgrounds.'

Each of the poles would be connected with a thin nylon wire, similar to fishing line, to provide 'continuity' where the boundary crosses a road or public footpath. None will encroach across people's private property.

A report compiled by a firm of architects said the 'Shabbat Inclusion Project' would bring 'numerous benefits for the Jewish residents, particularly the elderly, disabled, and families with young children'.

It even quotes the Equality Act 2010 to argue the council should approve the plans on the grounds of religion and those with disabilities.

Last month a report by a council planner recommended the application for approval ahead of the planning meeting.

The report read: 'The physical infrastructure required to form the Eruv are non-descript and are not marked or denoted in any way that would identify them as relating to a specific religion or group.

'Whilst it is recognised the Eruv would be located where there are mixed communities with many people of different religions and those who do not identify with any religion, the formation of the Eruv would not stop members of other religious groups or of no religion continuing to live within the area or to practice their own faith or none.

'Similarly, the formation of the Eruv would not prevent integration of various ethnic groups into the area as currently occurs. 

'The formation of the Eruv is considered to advance social cohesion and integration as it would enable certain members of the observant Jewish community to actively use the area on the Sabbath who had previously been unable to do so.

'Having regard to the public sector equality duty, a number of benefits and disbenefits have been identified and the overall equality implications of the proposals would be positive. '

Rabbi Yisroel Binstock from Hale Synagogue told the meeting: 'Without an eruv any member of the Jewish community who are not able to walk unaided and rely on the assistance of a wheelchair, walking stick or buggy face a decision on whether they choose to compromise on sacred Shabbat observance or remain isolated from the rest of the Jewish community at the most important time of the week.

'With an eruv they are able to participate in religious and social life. Hale has been a beautiful place for my wife and I to raise our family, and I understand why people might be concerned that an eruv could negatively affect this.

'I'm here to reassure you that we appreciate the beauty of the neighbourhood and we are not looking to change it.'

Today a spokesman for a Facebook group called South Trafford Against the Eruv said: 'Once upon a time not that long back, the planning committee would listen to the power of the people and the number of objections.

'Planning should have been refused. Without being political it will have been the Labour group who are hell bent on changing the whole area where we live, and work.'

Plans for an eruv in Hale first surfaced in 2014, when a total of 117 poles were planned, covering five square miles and a 12-mile boundary.

It led to more than 300 people attending a public meeting, after which the leader of Hale's Jewish community pledged to take the plans 'back to the drawing board'.

In 2016 they were revived with 95 poles earmarked along a 12-mile route, but after another backlash the Hale Eruv Project Charitable Trust withdrew the proposals 'in the interests of communal unity'.

At the time, then-MP Sir Graham Brady said the plans risked creating 'rancour and intolerance' in the area.

MailOnline has approached Trafford council for comment. 

WHAT IS AN ERUV? HOW A HOME'S BOUNDARIES CAN BE EXTENDED

Observant Jews have to try to avoid violating a religious law that bans them from working on the Sabbath, which includes carrying anything around - except within their homes.

But an eruv extends the boundaries of their properties, meaning they can follow the same rules within this area when outside the home.

It is created using physical features such as walls and then filling in the spaces with fishing lines connected between poles to enclose land.

Pushing things in public is also forbidden on the Sabbath, so an eruv allows people with wheelchairs or pushchairs to use these outside.

Within an eruv Jews can carry items such as house keys, books, essential medicines, extra clothes, reading glasses and crutches.

The idea of the eruv is to help Jews follow the ideas of the Sabbath by making it enjoyable without breaking the rules that keep it holy.

And this means Jews still cannot carry things that cannot be moved on the Sabbath such as mobile phones, pens or wallets.