THE campaign against a sports development planned for Chorlton Meadows is gathering momentum with thousands of people signing up to voice their opposition.

Websites, leaflets, posters, petitions and placards are helping to spread the word in a bid to stop West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC from building eight new football pitches on the Hardy Farm site.

Eighty people including councillors and MP John Leech attended a public meeting on Wednesday, August 26 to discuss the plans, with more than 4,000 people joining a Facebook group against the development.

Campaign groups including Save Hardy Farm and Save Chorlton Meadows Action Group, along with Chorlton Civic Society and local conservationists plan to fight the development when it goes before a planning committee later this year .

West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC purchased 20 acres of land on Chorlton Meadows last month and plan to build eight new football pitches and extend the club house.

Two of the pitches will be full size, one fenced with flood lights, with a further six junior size pitches on the land which stretches from Chorltonville towards Jackson's Boat pub.

Hardy Lane resident Nigel Lewis said: "The parts of the development I find unacceptable are the fences and floodlights around the pitches and the revamp of the club house.

"The floodlights, the work involved on the development and the traffic on match days will just cause too much disturbance - to residents and to wildlife.

"I am paying for a planning consultant myself to investigate the plans but the cost is not important, I just want it done professionally so that any appeal is taken seriously."

Chorlton Park councillor Norman Lewis , who has waived his vote on the planning committee so he can declare an interest and campaign against the development, said: "This area is people's Shangri -La where they can go to forget city life.

"We need to protect our green belt land and there are plenty of other sports pitches in the area already."

Chorltonville resident Anne Crocker said: "This development will disturb wildlife, cause light and noise pollution and parking problems.

"All these things will impact on an area which was once peaceful and lovely."

The Save Chorlton Meadows group has produced posters and referees' red cards for residents to print out and show their opposition to the development.

To find out more about the campaign, visit www.savechorltonmeadows.co.uk, www.hardyfarm.co.uk or search for 'Save Chorlton Meadows' on Facebook.

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