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No referendum for Prestbury

Ben Turner
19/ 3/2008

A HEADLINE grabbing villagers’ poll against celebrities’ millionaires homes down the road won’t be happening in Prestbury.

Neighbouring Alderley Edge residents have cooked up a storm by pursuing a council-sponsored vote on what they see as the unwanted building of huge mansions bought by Manchester United footballers, among others.

It has gained national press attention with villagers being portrayed as "going to war" against famous footballers and their wives.

But in Prestbury, their co-existence has so far followed a slightly smoother path.

Residents appear happy to show their concerns via a postal survey sent out late last year.

Carol Hamilton, a member of Plan for Prestbury, a residents’ group with links to Prestbury Parish Council, said: "We don’t need a referendum of that kind. It isn’t footballers driving this anyway. In the last four years 60 houses in Prestbury have been torn down and rebuilt and only three are related to sports people as far as I know."

But Carol, of Withinlee Road, said Prestbury shared many of the same concerns about the new homes.

"We sent out a 50-question survey to every household in the parish and the results gave a very strong concern about what is going on.

"It was pretty overwhelming that there is too much uncontrolled development.

"When you get a five- or six-bedroomed house with a pool in the basement, a cinema and bonus rooms, they end up with a house that is too big for that plot of land – that is our concern."

But estate agent Edward Holmes-Naden, who is involved in more than 20 building projects in Prestbury, rejected the idea of a "Rooney effect" bringing down the area.

He believes the vast majority of new developments are improving Prestbury.

"It is knocking down bad architecture from the 50s, 60s and 70s for new state-of-the-art developments, which can only be good for the environment," he said.