By Lorraine Eagling

We want to protect our local peat moss and other ecological assets, but we can’t do this alone.  Will you help us to prevent the devastation Trafford’s plans will cause in our area? 

It is a complete betrayal of current and future generations to destroy a 335 hectare irreplaceable habitat, productive Grade 2 agricultural land, woodlands and wetlands, impacting the 15 sites of biological importance and the site of special scientific interest in our area, further depleting the populations of red listed birds and endangered wildlife that have made Carrington Moss their home.  Trafford’s plans for 4 new roads on and across the mossland will also cause a huge rise in traffic, increasing air, noise, light, vibration, dust and water pollution (to say nothing of carbon emissions) and will also result in many more motor vehicle accidents (which could be very dangerous given the number of HGVs carrying hazardous materials through the area).

The best start is to write to your local Councillor to tell them how you feel.  Below is a template letter that you can edit to suit your personal concerns, then email it to you Councillor.  Details of your Councillor and their email address can be found at this link.

Secondly, you can add your name to our mailing list to receive our newsletter at this link and follow us on facebook and twitter.  Please share our posts with your friends, family and neighbours and encourage them to get involved too.

Finally, help us with our fund raising by joining our 200 club.  It is just £22 for a year’s subscription (less than £2 per month) and you will have the chance of winning one of 3 cash prizes each month for the 12 month period.  The more people who join the 200 Club, the higher the prize money.  You can also subscribe to easyfundraising and register the Friends of Carrington Moss as your beneficiary.  This does not cost you a penny but whenever you buy anything online – from your weekly shop to your annual holiday – you will raise free donations for us.

Template Letter

Dear Councillors

I am writing to express my deep concerns that Trafford Council has released 169 hectares of Green Belt for development.  The vast majority of that land is a peat moss that is considered by Natural England to be both irreplaceable and restorable.  Peat mosses are one of nature’s most effective carbon capturing habitats.  Peatlands make up less than 3% of land on earth yet they store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.  Here in Trafford, we have our own precious peatmoss, but instead of protecting it, the Council plan to decimate it and destroy one of nature’s best carbon sinks, significantly reducing Trafford’s ability to be Net Zero by 2038.

Trafford’s plans also affect productive grade 2 agricultural land.  At a time when food security is a priority, why is the Council even considering building on land that produces food?  They plan to fell thousands of trees to accommodate development.  Why, when there is so much brownfield land available in Trafford and elsewhere in Greater Manchester?

The moss is also home to many red listed birds such as the Willow Tit, Skylarks and Lapwings and rare mammals like the water vole and bats, not to mention all the other fauna and flora here.  This development will destroy and fracture their habitat having a devasting impact on local biodiversity.

In 2018 Trafford Council declared a climate emergency.  Today national and international headline news shows the devastating effects of climate change and locally residents are frequently dealing with the aftermath of flooding and are regularly receiving flood warnings.  Yet the Council considers there is just cause to build roads, warehouses and houses on land that is a natural flood defence, storing huge amounts of water every year.

In addition to the increased risk of flooding and the loss of an irreplaceable habitat, local residents will be adversely impacted by the development on Carrington because:

• There is no committed funding for sustainable passenger transport in an area that is currently one of the poorest served communities in Greater Manchester for public transport.  The only transport commitment is the Carrington Relief Road, which is currently estimated to cost at least £132 million and will bring no relief to local communities, as it will induce through traffic onto local roads, including the A6144 through Partington and the Carrington Spur, which are already at capacity.  TfGM has announced plans to expand the rapid transit network in their 2040 Transport Strategy, yet despite New Carrington being the largest development in Places for Everyone, there are no plans to bring trains or the tram to Carrington, even though there is a ‘live’ railway line that runs through the allocation.  The £132 million would be better spent reopening this line for the benefit of the communities of Warburton, Partington, Carrington and Sale West. 
• No sustainable freight transport options have even been proposed, despite the proximity to the Manchester Ship Canal and the former railway line and despite the fact that this development will lead to an increase of thousands of additional HGVs on local roads every single day!  
• There will be an adverse impact on the health and wellbeing of local residents as there will be a significant surge in air, noise, light, vibration, dust and water pollution caused by the huge increase in traffic, including HGVs, due to the lack of sustainable transport options.
• There will be challenges relating to school places, along with GPs, dental surgeries and other healthcare services (which are also struggling to meet current demand). 

I am not anti-development however New Carrington will  not be a sustainable development.  The National Planning Policy Framework defines the objective of sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (paragraph 7).  It will decimate a carbon capturing peat moss, significantly reducing the ability of future generations to absorb carbon.  It will destroy important biodiverse habitats that are home to endangered species therefore removing the opportunity for future generations to benefit physically and mentally from these local green spaces.  It significantly reduces the opportunity for future generations to produce their own food locally.  As demonstrated by the Community Planning Alliance (and the calculations in the Places for Everyone Plan), there was no need to release any Green Belt to provide land for housing as there are enough brownfield sites to meet housing need.  There certainly is no need for Trafford to implement plans that will be both detrimental to local communities and are so destructive to our natural environment!

Kind regards

Support our campaign and send your email today!

Carrington Moss is Trafford’s largest peatland and is one of several across Greater Manchester.  Peatlands which store vast amounts of carbon – the worlds peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests. Carrington Moss is a unique biodiverse habitat, home to an abundance of flora and fauna. It is the breeding and feeding grounds for many endangered wildlife creatures and birds, some of which are red listed.

Carrington Moss is a wetland that absorbs huge amounts of water and it is very wet for long periods each year. This is great news because the water keeps the peat active, holding in, rather than emitting, the carbon stored here. It is also our natural flood defence.  Without it, both local residents and communities downstream on the River Mersey are at a higher risk of flooding.

Carrington Moss is in danger!

Trafford Council have plans to concrete it over!

The council want the construct the £76 million Carrington Relief Road, which they say is NOT for the benefit of local residents. They also say it will INDUCE more traffic into the area.  Our recent surveys demonstrate that this is money poorly spent.

There are NO committed plans for investment in public transport in the area, so any new development will be unsustainable and levels of air, light, noise, vibration and water pollution will increase significantly.

The council want to build 350,000 square metres of warehousing and industrial units, in Carrington, of which 100,000 square metres will be on (formerly Green Belt) land that has peat of around 2m in thickness under the surface!  Yet, there are sufficient brownfield sites for those developments across Greater Manchester.

The council want to build thousands of houses on the moss when there are sufficient brownfield sites in the borough and beyond!

There are several ways you can help our campaign to protect this precious habitat

• Email your councillors to express your objections
• The Carrington Relief Road Consultation will be in January 2025.  You can respond to this consultation, details of which should be available on the council website. 
• Alternatively, subscribe to our free newsletter and we will keep you updated.
• Join our 200 Club lottery for just £22 a year.  Not only do you have the chance to win one of three cash prizes each month for 12 months, but you will also be helping us with our campaign.  Last month’s prizes were £74 (1^st), £44 (2^nd) and £15 (3^rd).  The more members we have, the higher the prize money, so do encourage your friends and family to join too.