https://substack.com/@theromileygazette?
5th January 2026
Past Failures Raise Alarm Over Stockport’s Future Gridlock
Stockport Council is pressing ahead with plans for 30,000 new homes.
Residents are being told: “The traffic will be fine.”
But many are asking a simple question:
Based on what evidence?
Because when residents raised traffic concerns in the past, they were ignored, overruled, and fobbed off with flawed reports — while congestion worsened and public money drained away.
A LOOK BACK — AND A WARNING
Years ago, residents warned that development would cause gridlock.
They were right.
Traffic consultants were paid £23,594.66 to model flows.
The modelling was wrong.
Queues already existed.
Council officers insisted it was “adequate”.
When the problems became undeniable, the response wasn’t to stop.
It was to spend more money.
More reports.
More “solutions”.
More sticking plasters.
THE TURNING CIRCLE THAT SAID IT ALL
One infamous fix was a so-called turning area.
People would not be allowed to park in the turning area, the Council said.
People would be allowed to park in the turning area to walk their young children up narrow and dangerous Mill Lane.
Then came talk of Traffic Regulation Orders — more bureaucracy to control a problem the Council itself had created.
This wasn’t planning.
It was damage control.
RESIDENTS WARNED THEM — AGAIN
Campaigners repeatedly asked the obvious question:
What happens if proper traffic modelling shows gridlock is inevitable?
No clear answer was ever given.
The application rolled on regardless.
NOW SCALE THAT UP — 30,000 HOMES
Fast-forward to today.
Thirty thousand new houses.
Thousands more cars.
Roads already at breaking point.
Residents are again being told:
- Traffic assessments are “adequate”
- Impacts are “manageable”
- Infrastructure will “cope”
They’ve heard this before.
THE REAL CONCERN
This is not about one junction or one road.
It’s about a culture of minimising problems to get developments approved.
- Known congestion dismissed
- Reports trusted over lived experience
- Consultants paid again and again
- Consequences left to residents
If this was the attitude then, why would it be different now?
A QUESTION STOCKPORT MUST ANSWER
If the Council struggled — and failed — to manage traffic impacts from small developments,
how can residents trust it to handle the impact of 30,000 new homes?
Because once they’re built,
once the roads are jammed,
once the gridlock is permanent,
there is no turning circle big enough to reverse it.
Fri 24/08/2007 11:49
Dear Mrs. Oliver,
Thank you for your e-mail I apologies for the delay in replying [over 12 hours] I hope the Ombudsman will not be required. I am surprised you had time to contact me following our conversation last night after the planning committee, as you indicated you’re so busy with TV radio and press interviews, I am truly humbled and honoured. Regarding your specific question I thought the whole debate around the Reddish School was mature reasonable and I think you would agree balanced. I believe the extra conditions attached regarding traffic will more than cover your slight misgivings around this much needed investment in the schoolchildren of Reddish.
Best Wishes,
Dave.
Cllr Dave Goddard
Leader of Stockport Council
Town Hall, Stockport SK1 3XE
Tel: 0161 474 3302
Fax: 0161 474 3308
From: sheilaoliver [mailto:sheilaoliver@ntlworld.com]
Sent: 23 August 2007 22:01
To: Leader
Cc: Peter Devine
Subject: Incompetence
Dear Councillor Goddard , The Listening Leader
I remember reading in the Stockport Express what a listening leader you would be. Come to Uncle Dave with all your problems and he would listen. Well I was prepared to suspend all credibility and believe you.
Please could I have an explanation as to why Mrs. Penkethman and I met Mr Nick Whelan in January 2007 to discuss the horrendous traffic problems associated with the proposed school, yet at the end of July 2007 I have an email from him stating he had no idea of how big the proposed development was. So, your officers meet with members of the public whose concerns turn out to be completely vindicated, and they take not a blind bit of notice of what is being said, so much so that they don’t even both to look at the damn plans! Not good is it?
This is an across the board incompetent and dubious council.
I await your comments should they come. Hostage to fortune – that one.
Mrs Oliver
