Opponents of the Sale Moor supermarket proposal emerged victorious when Trafford Council refused to sell Warrener Street car park to the developer late last year.  Spurred on by the power of the communal voice, the group established a Neighbourhood Forum to influence the future of Sale Moor.

“Neighbourhood planning gives local communities a positive ability to influence planning decisions in the area where they live or work,” said James Eisen, forum spokesperson.  “Now we want to consult and involve local residents throughout the entire process of creating the neighbourhood plan that will work in the very best interests of Sale Moor.”

Ideas to attract new restaurants and coffee shops, as well as a community arts centre, are already emerging from initial forum meetings, as well as ways to improve traffic flow.

“Although these things are simply a wish list at the moment, and would be determined by commercial factors, our input into long-term neighbourhood planning can have an impact by creating an infrastructure that makes these things more achievable,” added James.

Funding for the project has been secured from the Community Organisers Mobilisation Fund by Maddie Powell and Zoi Tzagadouri at Voluntary and Community Action Trafford.

Administered by The Company of Community Organisers, the fund is designed to enable residents to mobilise around the key things that they care about and be supported to use the rights available to them under the Localism Act 2011.

“We applied for the funding because from our conversations with people in Trafford, it became apparent that there is a low understanding on what community rights are,” said community organiser Maddie.  “This is a great project because it gives residents a chance to have a voice in planning decisions that will affect the future of their community.  We are very excited to join Sale Moor Neighbourhood Forum on their journey as they use their community rights.”

This story was taken from the Messenger Newspaper.