20th January 2026
https://theromileygazette.substack.com/publish/posts/published
Residents with long memories will recall that the redevelopment of Aquinas College was approved many years ago — but a closer look at the paperwork still serves as a textbook example of the kind of planning sleight of hand that has so often characterised decision-making at Stockport Council.
The scheme, submitted under planning reference DC 028122, related to development on the Aquinas College site off Nangreave Road. At the time, council officers and statutory consultees were assured that the proposals would not result in a loss of UDP-designated open space, a key policy requirement.
However, subsequent analysis revealed that the figures presented were, at best, creative.
The total site covered around 13 acres, but the way land was divided between “open space” and “college footprint” raised eyebrows. Areas marked as protected open land were, in reality, already occupied by buildings or formed part of the existing campus. Other structures simply vanished from the calculations altogether.
When the numbers were recalculated properly, it became clear that the amount of genuine open space was significantly less than shown on the council’s own proposals map — by roughly three thousand square metres. Yet the application sailed through, apparently because the misleading presentation was never properly challenged.
In effect, the boundaries were drawn to make it look as though no protected land was being lost, allowing the development to pass policy tests and avoid objections from bodies such as Sport England.
To many local observers, the Aquinas case was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern — where questionable assumptions go untested, inconvenient details are overlooked, and councillors are asked to sign off decisions based on information that doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny.
While the buildings have long since been completed and the moment has passed, the episode remains a useful reminder of how Stockport’s planning system has historically operated — and why public confidence in it has been so hard to maintain.
For residents campaigning today on green space, overdevelopment and transparency, Aquinas College is simply another chapter in a very long book.
