https://substack.com/@theromileygazette?
13th January 2026
A Freedom of Information response has reignited long-standing concerns about how key decisions were made ahead of the construction of a primary school on the former football pitch site in North Reddish.
The school, built in 2011, occupies land that was previously used almost entirely as a football pitch — a fact that lay at the centre of earlier contamination concerns raised by local residents.
In a response issued under reference FOI/EIR 856, Stockport Council confirmed that the decision not to disturb the football pitch for trial pits was made verbally and that no written record exists identifying who made that decision.
“The decision not to disturb the football pitch was a verbal one… as such there is no recorded information as to who made the decision,” the council’s FOI officer wrote.
This disclosure has raised serious questions for residents who argue that the football pitch represented the majority of the development site, and was precisely the area where the new school was to be built.
Trial pits and boreholes are a standard method of assessing ground conditions, particularly on brownfield land where contamination is suspected. Critics say that choosing not to investigate the largest part of the site — and then failing to document who authorised that decision — represents a significant failure of due process.
“It wasn’t a small corner that was left undisturbed,” said one campaigner. “The football pitch was the site.”
The issue is made more contentious by the fact that earlier surveys elsewhere on the land identified benzpyrene, a known carcinogen associated with coal tar, in around half of the boreholes that were sunk. Residents argue that this made comprehensive investigation of the entire site even more critical.
Despite this, when concerns about the football pitch were raised publicly, Vicki Bates, a senior council figure at the time, is reported to have dismissed them and claimed that the resident raising the issue was being “vexatious”.
Campaigners strongly dispute that characterisation.
“Pointing out that the main part of a school site was never properly investigated is not vexatious,” said one resident. “It’s responsible.”
The FOI response itself appears to support that view, confirming that there is no paper trail for a decision that had significant implications for public safety and planning accountability.
The council’s letter advises that those unhappy with the response may request an internal review — a process some residents say only underlines the problem.
“How can you review a decision when no one knows who made it, and there’s no record it ever happened?” one asked.
More than a decade after the school opened, there is no suggestion that immediate harm has occurred. However, residents say that is not the point.
“This is about governance, transparency and learning lessons,” said a former objector. “If a decision of this importance can be made verbally, unrecorded, and later defended by calling questioners vexatious, then something is badly wrong.”
As councils across Greater Manchester continue to redevelop former industrial and recreational land, the North Reddish case is now being cited locally as a cautionary tale — not about the outcome, but about how decisions are made, recorded, and challenged.
For those who raised concerns at the time, the FOI response does not close the matter. Instead, it confirms what they have argued all along: that the most important part of the site was left unexplored, and no one is now prepared — or able — to say who decided that was acceptable.
Wed 09/01/2008 08:37
Our reference: FOI/EIR 856
Dear Mrs Oliver
FOI/EIR – Trial Pits
I refer to your request for information detailed below.
The decision not to disturb the football pitch was a verbal one as stated in my response to Ref EIR 802, as such there is no recorded information as to who made the decision.
If you are unhappy with our response or the way we have handled your request you are entitled to ask us to conduct an internal review. Any internal review will be carried out by a senior member of staff who was not involved with your original request. To request an internal review please email foi.officer@stockport.gov.uk in the first instance or write to:
FOI Officer
Town Hall
Edward Street
Stockport
SK1 3XE
