29th August 2026
Photographs of an ambulance stuck in traffic near a proposed North Reddish school site were among the evidence put before Stockport Council’s planning committee before the development was approved, raising questions over how thoroughly existing road conditions were weighed against the new school’s expected traffic impact.
The images, dated October 2005 and November 2006, show queuing traffic at the junction of Mill Lane, Longford Road and Windmill Lane — described in the presentation as a typical school-day peak period even before the new school existed. Two further photographs show an ambulance held up in congestion nearby, captioned as having “nowhere to go, but wait,” with the presentation warning this put lives at risk.
A separate photograph taken in November 2006 was used to argue that vehicles leaving the school’s proposed exit would have no clear sight line to approaching traffic or pedestrians, with objectors warning that a new junction opposite, at Ryland Close, would add further conflict at the point where cars would be dropping off and turning.
The material appears to have been produced and presented by local objectors rather than council officers, and its advocacy framing — including its title, “Compromising Safety” — reflects the objectors’ own interpretation of the images rather than an independent assessment. The underlying photographs and their dates, however, would have predated any additional traffic generated by the school itself, meaning the committee was shown evidence of congestion and emergency-vehicle delay on the surrounding road network before, not after, approving a development expected to add to that traffic.
It has not yet been established how officers responded to this evidence in their report to committee, or whether the sight-line concern was specifically tested against highway visibility standards before consent was granted. Stockport Council has been approached for comment.
The school was subsequently built, and — as previously reported — council officers privately warned in 2007 that its drop-off arrangements were inadequate, while a 2011 committee report confirmed serious ongoing traffic and safety problems at the site once it opened.
