{"id":365378,"date":"2025-08-22T19:19:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/365378\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T19:19:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:19:22","slug":"developer-sparks-enforcement-row-by-fencing-off-street-without-permission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/365378\/","title":{"rendered":"Developer sparks enforcement row by \u2018fencing off\u2019 street without permission"},"content":{"rendered":"

A councillor said the issue was reported to the local authority months ago<\/p>\n

18:50, 22 Aug 2025Updated 18:50, 22 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

\"AA picture of fencing up at Highfield Street in Edgeley.<\/p>\n

A developer building high-end apartments in Stockport has fenced off a street used by the public without planning permission.<\/p>\n

Liverpool-based firm Carpenter Investments has been working on a project to build 202 new flats at Springmount Mill in Edgeley<\/a>, located off Brinksway and Northgate Road.<\/p>\n

Advertising boards around the building described the new homes as \u2018luxury apartments\u2019 for rent, and Carpenter Build is managing the site and construction works.<\/p>\n

To see planning applications; traffic and road diversions and layout changes; and more, visit the Public Notices Portal HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Highfield Street is a public route next to the development, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) this week to be mostly blocked from access by tall fencing.<\/p>\n

The street is cobbled and \u2018historically associated with the former mill buildings at the site\u2019 according to planning reports.<\/p>\n

\"FencingFencing has been installed across Highfield Street.<\/p>\n

Edgeley councillor Asa Caton said fences have been up on the \u2018well used\u2019 route since January.<\/p>\n

The street offers a shortcut from the houses on Northgate Road and surrounding areas down to the River Mersey and to the north of Stockport<\/a> town centre.<\/p>\n

Coun Caton said the issue was reported to Stockport council<\/a> months ago, but claimed the authority has not yet carried out any enforcement action.<\/p>\n

“They [Carpenter Build] have fenced off 3\/4 of it before they have permission,\u201d Coun Caton told the LDRS. \u201cIt was well used for pedestrians. It’s not an essential route, but it’s the principle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA map showing the boundary of the Springmount Mill development alongside Highfield Street.<\/p>\n

In January 2024, an application from Carpenter Investments to change use of the street from a public highway to \u2018private amenity land\u2019 was validated by Stockport council.<\/p>\n

The letter with the application stated: \u2018The existing public access via Highfield Street is intended to be stopped-up as the land will become within the private ownership of the applicant company. They wish to ensure that it is not subject to unauthorised access, nor used as a rat-run for pedestrians coming from Brinksway.\u2019<\/p>\n

But the plans have not yet been decided by the council according to its planning portal, where the proposal is \u2018registered\u2019 without a decision.<\/p>\n

Coun Caton added: \u201cThey [Carpenter Investments] knew it likely wasn’t going to be granted and they fenced it off anyway. Since they fenced it off Stockport council has done nothing. It was reported in February for enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CounCoun Asa Caton said the firm has fenced off the land without permission (Image: MEN)<\/p>\n

A Stockport council spokesperson said: \u201cThe council are currently dealing with a planning application for the land in question, which was submitted in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council remains in active discussions with the developer in order to progress the determination of the application and to resolve outstanding matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council has received an enforcement complaint relating to the site, which is being progressed alongside the current planning application.\u201d<\/p>\n

Join our Stockport WhatsApp group HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In response to the claims, Carpenter Build\u2019s construction director, John Fitzgerald, said: \u201cHighfield Street was previously hoarded off under a hoarding licence, to enable the completion of the development and ensure safety for our workers and local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing completion of this work the barrier preventing access has now been removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarpenter investments applied for a change of use to Highfield Street to Stockport council in September 2023. Prior to our development, the street, which is cobbled and extremely steep was closed to vehicles and was not being maintained as a footpath by the local authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have worked closely with Stockport council throughout this development and we are very much looking forward to the determination of the application in due course.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of our application, we have proposed to create a new, safe footpath adjacent to our development with landscaping and lighting which will only improve amenity and access for the local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been in regular contact with the local councillor during the development and have been delighted with some of the very positive engagement we have had with the local community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LDRS asked to see a copy of the hoarding licence, but this has not been provided by the firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A councillor said the issue was reported to the local authority months ago 18:50, 22 Aug 2025Updated 18:50,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,48319,393,4884,2465,1288,2622,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-365378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edgeley","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-stockport","14":"tag-stockport-council","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115074037961997462","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}