'I've been kicked out of my home TWICE...now I worry it's happening again'

Alan French points to the rolling fields beyond his back garden. The 74-year-old is worried. And he has good reason to be.

He fears thousands of new homes due to be built on the land could see him kicked out of his own home.

Alan lives on a small farm holding off Mottram Old Road in Hyde, but he's terrified he could get the boot any day now. Far Meadow Farm, which he jokingly described as a place for ‘misfit animals’ and ‘strange people’, sits within the area touted for 2,150 new homes.

Alan has lived on the farm for 15 years. He moved there after being forced out of two previous homes in neighbouring Romiley through compulsory purchase orders (CPOs).

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Now the stud farmer says he fears it is happening all over again, 'just so housing developers can make some cash'. This time the housing developer in question is Tameside Council, who are pushing forward with their Godley Green Garden Village plan.

Although the council have repeatedly claimed that CPOs are ‘a last resort’, the local authority tells the LDRs they have not ruled it out as an option.

The scheme would see 2,150 homes built on the Hyde countryside over a 15 year period. It was granted outline planning approval in November 2023.

The proposal would see a new 'village' split by Godley Brook into two halves, each with its own centre, including up to 1,300 sqm of retail space, 1,600 sqm of commercial and 1,000 sqm for community use.

Unlike a number of farmers and landowners in the area who have taken offers to sell up and move on, Alan wants to stay put.

“I love it here, it’s the happiest I’ve ever been,” the farmer told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “I don’t want to move out and I don’t want to be forced out.”

Alan claims he only hears of updates on the Godley Green plan, which is happening on his doorstep, through word of mouth or in the news.

He says that every time the council has visited him, the main question they ask is whether he has changed his mind on selling up, rather than to update him on the housing development plan.

“I love it here, I love the view. A council officer said ‘but you don’t own the view,” Alan said. “Another came before the last planning meeting to ask if I’ve changed my position.”

The Godley Green development came back to the planning panel on October 16, so the committee could be updated on the latest developments. The panel was told that the site is no longer dedicated green belt land following the approval of the Places for Everyone plan - a Greater Manchester-wide scheme to build thousands of houses across the region up to 2050.

Additionally, the panel was shown a map which highlighted three plots of land out of 46, one of which is Alan’s land, that had not entered into ‘option agreements’. Option agreements are terms in which to sell up and move on from the land or a promise not to develop the land themselves.

Responding to claims the council has not consulted local residents, a spokesperson for Tameside Council said: “Landowners and stakeholders have been kept up to date with ongoing activity around the project both verbally by telephone phone, face to face and via email and this will continue as work progresses.

“A number of public consultation exercises have been carried out during the planning application and Places for Everyone adoption process. Pre-planning consultation was carried out with existing residents of Godley Green and a full statement of community engagement was presented as part of the outline planning application.

“Individual information sessions were also offered to Godley Green residents who were not landowners to sit down with the project team to discuss how the development would impact their homes and amenities."

Alan said those in the farming community feel they are being pushed out of the area between Tameside and Stockport to make way for new homes.

“The first CPO happened when I was only young and they came to my mother and said they’re compulsory purchasing the house,” Alan said. “She said ‘I’ve got two sons I don’t want to sell’.

“That did nothing. All they did then was build old folk bungalows.

“When we got to another spot in Romiley, nothing seemed to happen. They suddenly sold the farm field and they never put an estate on, which we were forced out to build, for another 10 to 15 years.

“They built the supersonic estate along the bottom field.”

His feelings about staying put are so strong that he’s not even considered where else he could go. He said he would effectively be left homeless if he was forced out.

Alan is not alone in his fight against the Godley Green plan, he has his beloved horses Yan and Tommy as well as fellow campaigners like Claire Elliot.

Claire was one of the objectors who held up banners and placards opposing the scheme when it was approved at the planning panel in November 2023. The application, tabled by the town hall itself, has more than 4,000 objections from residents who fear the potential loss of green land will 'ruin' the area.

The campaigners have even started a GoFundMe page to challenge the development with a Judicial Review in the High Court. Objectors’ main argument against the proposals is that it could transform the current landscape from a rural to an urban setting.

Although Alan is a supporter of the campaign, he says he simply wants to live his life in peace.

Alan continued: “People think because you’ve got a farm, they give you things. Anything that has four legs and eats, Alan will have it.

“If I look out my kitchen view, especially in summer time I sit there and I can see across the view. Potentially I could have thousands of houses built all over the back fields.

“I would be thoroughly hacked off if that happened. If I left they would probably tear down my house and use the space as a brew room whilst the building work went on.

“I don’t care for other nearby locations like Mottram and Hattersley, they have a motorway too close.

“It is too much now, they’re taking the countryside everywhere. This place is not the place it used to be.”

What the council has to say

A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “Tameside Council and all the partner stakeholders involved in the site will be working together to continue the engage with residents and landowners as the site continues to progress.

“This will ramp up in the coming months as detailed work is undertaken to determine which elements of the Garden Village will come forward first, to input into proposals and can take advantage of the benefits development at the site will bring.

“A CPO would be the last resort, and discussions are ongoing with landowners on option agreements by private treaty either with the council or third parties which is the preferred option but means a CPO cannot be ruled out at this stage.

“It is anticipated that the finalisation of S106 Agreements with all Landowners will be completed around Spring 2025. The development cannot commence without the S106 agreement being agreed with the Local Planning Authority. Therefore, there is no confirmed date for development to start at present.

“The development will be compliant with the council’s local affordable housing policy, which commits to 15 per cent affordable housing across the site which amounts to approximately 323 homes.”