23rd August 2025
The tranquil Goyt Valley at Bredbury and Poise Brook Valley at Offerton, much-loved green space in the heart of our town, are always facing the prospect of a major road slicing through their fields and woodlands. Campaigners say that proposals linked to a Lib Dem–backed bypass scheme risk damaging one of the area’s most important natural corridors.
For centuries, the valleys have been a place where walkers, families, and wildlife enthusiasts escape the noise of nearby industrial estates and now motorways. With their winding riverbanks, otters, and abundance of birdlife, these valleys are treasured as a rare green lung in an otherwise heavily built-up stretch of Stockport.
But residents fear the peace could be shattered if plans to push forward with the long-mooted Bredbury bypass resurface. Opponents argue that the road would cut directly across the valley, destroying habitats, increasing air pollution, and encouraging further development on the floodplain.
“Every few years this bypass idea gets dusted off and rebranded, and every time it puts our valleys at risk,” said one campaigner. “It’s driven by political calculations rather than what’s best for local people and the environment.”
Supporters of the bypass, largely from Liberal Democrat circles on the council, argue that it would ease congestion, provide better links for businesses, and reduce rat-running through Romiley, Bredbury, and Woodley. They maintain that economic growth in the east of Stockport depends on improved road infrastructure.
Yet critics remain unconvinced, pointing out that previous transport studies raised questions over cost, environmental damage, and whether traffic would simply be displaced elsewhere.
As one resident put it: “We only get one Goyt Valley. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.”
