Stamford Park Conservatory: Council urged to halt demolition plans

Stamford Park Conservatory has been closed for four years

Campaigners and MPs have called on a council to scrap plans to demolish a century-old conservatory.

Tameside Council has decided it can no longer afford to maintain the Stamford Park Conservatory in Stalybridge which has stood empty for four years.

Demolition is due on 2 September but a petition of more than 4,000 people is calling for the place to be preserved as part of the town's heritage.

The council said it was open to any conversation about the greenhouse.

Matt Clark from the Save Stamford Park Greenhouse campaign group said the Labour-run authority was being "short-sighted".

He said campaigners should be granted time to raise funds to restore the conservatory and run it in the same way that volunteers run local libraries.

"We don't want any money from the council. There is plenty of potential here."

He added: "If it doesn't work out then the council could demolish but at least we would have given it a go."

'Valuable asset'

Conservative councillor Doreen Dickinson said local opinion should be recognised with demolition deferred until March 2020.

"Given that it has been fenced off for four years, I strongly believe a further six months will make no difference to the council," she said.

Campaigners are also angry that the greenhouse was cited in an lottery funding application which saw it receive £4m for the whole park in 2007.

Labour MPs Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) and Angela Rayner (Ashton-Under-Lyne) have also written to the council saying the greenhouse is an "iconic landmark" and a "valuable community asset" that should not be lost.

A Tameside Council statement said "renovation is not believed to be possible due to the extent of the deterioration" of the building and the council did not have the budget to rebuild it.

The council added: "We are open to conversations with the community about the future use of the site if they can secure funding and propose a viable and sustainable plan."

The conservatory, which used to house subtropical plants such as palm trees and bananas, was a gift to the community in 1907 from John Nield.

It was rebuilt in 1985 and refurbished in 2003.

Campaigners will be attending the next full council meeting on 23 July dressed in green and yellow.