Salford's mayor and MP speak out over 1,200 home plan for Swinton Park golf course as campaign grows

The mayor of Salford has strongly spoken out against a developer's plan to build 1,200 homes on the 100-acre site of the former Swinton Park Golf Club.

Paul Dennett said the council was 'in a very strong position in policy and strategy terms' to retain the land for the purposes of recreation. And he told a packed public meeting on Wednesday night he would be 'more than happy to mount a public campaign' for the landowners, Wain Estates, to immediately open up the land to the community.

The site, off the traffic-snarled East Lancashire Road in Swinton, is currently fenced off and falling into disrepair, with concerns voiced at the meeting over anti-social behaviour, fires and motorbikes using the land.

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Mr Dennett said he believes the city is 'in a stronger position than [he has] ever seen in terms of protecting the land for future development'.

And one of Salford's MPs, Rebecca Long-Bailey, said a growing campaign against the plans has her 'full support towards doing all it can to retain the green space and recreational land'. The MP for Salford and Eccles said the land's 'future as greenspace for the people of the city must be protected'.

The Manchester Evening News revealed Wain Estates, which bought the land for £3m after a controversial sell-off, submitted a 'vision document' to the council referencing a 'once in a lifetime scheme, centred around sports and recreation, for existing and future residents'. The plans also includes a 'village centre'.

The document was sent in to the council as part of submissions Wain Estates made to consultations in the latest stage of the Salford Local Plan - which looks at the