Latest News and development status

click to read report   East Cheshire Council report

In retaliation to the report we are seeking support from Sport England and the BMFA. The following will be forwarded to these organisations and various press outlets.

Smithy model Aircraft Club has been in existence for approximately 30 years meeting on a daily basis on the land behind total fitness Handforth. We pay rent to East Cheshire Council for the use of the land. Our membership mainly consists of retired gentlemen who consider this much more than just a hobby it’s a social avenue and for some the only contact they have with friends enjoying a likeminded passion.

It came as a devastating blow when we heard the news of a new development which would mean the removal of our club from this land. The news reached us through local papers and notices pinned to trees in the area. The Council are refusing to acknowledge the club as a stakeholder even though we are paying an annual rent.

As sad as it is to lose our long standing venue we appreciate the need for local housing and we understand as a small model club it would be disproportionate to the need for housing for us to continue the use of the land. However, model flying is a recognised sport and under the NPPF guidance;

– the loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location;

So we asked the council to stop ignoring the club and provide a suitable alternative site. The first attempt although we had provided a comprehensive guide to assist them was directly next to the busy A34 dual carriageway! Even if you did not participate in model flying surely common sense would tell you not to fly a plane next to a busy highway. The second attempt they offered us a field which we said would be suitable then they retracted the offer because they had not realised the land was tenanted to a farmer.

Although we applaud it, what we cannot understand is the sums of money the council propose to pay local sport venues that are not stakeholders and will not be directly affected by the development;

Cricket £145.343, £101.325, £29.350 per annum for 10 years total £540,168

Hockey Contributions towards off site hockey pitch £64,805. £16,887 towards changing facilities. £2,009 life-cycle costs per annum over a period of 10-years. Total £101,782

Ruby Contributions towards off-site rugby union £43,336. £67,550 towards changing facilities. £9,274 life-cycle costs per annum over a period of 10-years. Total £203,626

Smithy model aircraft club  Total £00.00

Cheshire east council have commissioned a report using public purse funding and have not checked the validity. The report concluded our model club members would not suffer any inconvenience because the members could simply join another club within a 20 minute catchment.

None of the clubs suggested as alternative sites have been contacted by the report founders or Council staff. NPPF considerations have been inaccurately demonstrated and are factually misleading.  The authors, due to lack of research have provided a biased report in favour of the authors client.

I personally contacted the following club secretaries to collate the true information as follows;

The council report states;

There are 17 Model Aircraft Clubs within a 15-miles (20-minutes) catchment area of the Smithy Model Flying Club site, including Smithy. Suggesting our members could join another club to pursue their hobby.

There appears to be good alternative levels of provision in the catchment where any displaced members could reasonably access model flying opportunities. There are numerous opportunities for displaced members to continue their activities at other sites and clubs. There are choices, which can be made, which will not result in displaced users or members not being able to access alternative opportunities.

This is flagrantly fictitious;

The first club Bramhall area thermal and slope soaring club. Well the clue is in the name! This club could only have been suggested by someone who knows nothing about the sport and what we do. Suggesting this club as an alternative venue is like asking a javelin thrower to practice in a squash court. It is basically a club formed to accommodate glider and small electric planes. This would equate to around 5 percent of our members models. The Site is severely restricted to a few hours here and there and only open when the school is closed. This club is completely unsuitable for our needs.

East Cheshire Model flying club, this club would be more suited to our needs but is not taking new members and indeed has a waiting list to join. Plus the site they use is not suitable for gas turbine planes or large scale aircraft.

Hough End Model aircraft club 23mins drive in good traffic conditions. 40mins drive in peak hours. Severely restricted flying times because this is a public playing field.  4 hours on wed, 4 hours on fri, 3 ½ hours on sun.

Parkway Model aircraft club do not allow helicopters or drone aircraft, it also is not suitable for large scale aircraft or turbines. The max amount of members they could accept is 10

Sale Model Aircraft Club, Max 10 members no large scale aircraft or Turbines.

Phoenix Model Aircraft Club has a cap of 40 members and currently has a waiting list to join.

Knutsford Model Aircraft Club is situated in Tatton Park the club has a low cost membership because the members have to pay the gate fees every time they attend. This is currently £8.00 I attend my model club on average 3 times a week more in summer that equates to approx £1000 a year. Once again nobody from the council or report founders has contacted this club to enquire if it is a like for like alternative. The club secretary could not without a committee meeting inform me if they would accept any new members

Cheshire model flying club have a cap of 30 members and they are fully subscribed.

Manchester Squadron model flying club does not exist anymore.

The remaining clubs included in the report are not within the catchment area but have similar restrictions on membership.

So the true conclusion of the report should be; possibly 20 members from Smithy club may be able to pursue some aspects of their sport within the catchment area.

As I understand it once the council has got all permissions in place it will sell off packages of land to development companies for substantial sums of money all we are asking for is to be relocated to a suitable venue or compensated to assist our club to pay a rent or buy land from a local farmer or land owner.

Reply from Sport England

I have not inserted all the consultation report there is pages and pages not relevant but the following extract is taken from that report.

Aero Model Flying – Smith Model Flying Club

 Sport England have been contacted by the Smith Model Flying Club (SMFC) who are understood to operate out of part of the Garden Village site. Aero model flying is a sporting activity that is recognised by Sport England and it has a National Governing Body, the British Model Flying Association. The Council will be aware of this club operating from the site and have not made any attempt to identify this in any of the application documents or the Sport Needs Assessment.  The Club share their disappointment that the Council has covered other sports in the application documentation but not their own and the development displaces them from the site.  Sport England advise that because this is a recognised sport then mitigation for the loss of this site to them needs to be mitigated for. We look forward to consultation on the mitigation package for this sport.

Conclusion

 In light of the above, whilst Sport England is satisfied with progress made to provide more information about new sport facilities on site and developer contributions towards off site facilities, although some matters are still under development. However, Sport England wishes to object to this application as further clarity is still needed of precisely what sports facilities would be provided on site, clarity on the final outcome amount and distribution of developer contributions; and there is no mitigation for the loss of the site for the sport of flying model aircraft. 

 Sport England would be happy to reconsider this advice on receipt of further information.

Do not hesitate to contact me on any matters that you may wish to discuss.

 Yours sincerely,

Janet Belfield
Principal Planning Manager – North

Sport England Planning Team Ref: PA/19/NW/CSE/52361

So Sport England reconmended our club receives finacial support and that has been ignored by Cheshire East council.

Dear Paul,

Thank you for your email that has been shared with me by our Shared Services Team.  In understand that you are commenting on the planning application under consideration by Cheshire East Council for The Garden Village at Handforth (Cheshire East planning application reference 19/0623M).  I received contact from the Smithy Model Flying Club in May 2021 who made me aware of the Club’s use of part of the application site.  I provided a consultation response to Cheshire East on 1 July 2021, a copy of which is attached, and in it referenced the use of part of the site by the club.  Sport England is only a consultee on this planning application, Cheshire East is the decision making authority, you will need to redirect your representation to the planning application to Cheshire East Council who can take it into account when determining the planning application.

I am aware that a new Sports Needs Assessment report has been drafted but have not received formal consultation on it yet from Cheshire East Council. I will provide comments on it to the Council in due course when Sport England receives a consultation (from the Council).  The Council would upload Sport England’s consultation response to the website.

Kind regards,

Janet Belfield    Principal Planning Manager – North Team

 

On a positive note we identified a great field off Hough Lane and after conducting a land registry search we now are in a position to approach the owners for permission. Fingers crossed on that one.

15/03/2022

I spoke with Andy Symmons this morning he’s having a meeting with the chief executive of the BMFA midweek. By the end of this week hopefully they will have a response to Cheshire East council. The narrative is find another flying site or compensate.

25/04/2022

Please find BMFA responce to ECC report.

Ref 19-0623M East Cheshire Council -SmithyMAC