The BCR on Marple Stockport is more of a problem, which is why we need to emphasise the need, both in terms of modal shift in commuting, and also getting transport infrastructure planned for the likely need for new housing.
New housing in Marple? Good Lord, the Nimbys successfully screamed their heads off at the prospect of a new supermarket on of the very few sites which was to become available but it is a fact of life that despite the fact that opposition is likely to be vociferous, we don't have anywhere to do our weekly shop and the traffic jams to Stockport are horrendous and will become even worse when the SEMMS link between Hazel Grove and the M60 eventually creates further problems at Offerton Green it is an indisputable fact that Marple is at or near to the top of the wish list for potential house buyers in Stockport so where do the houses go?
Well, without a new road bridge over the River Goyt, Town Street is the only way in and out for most who live east of the Goyt plus a few feeding onto the A626 via Bonnington Rise and Ley Lane. Longhurst Lane is already suffering very considerable problems coping with traffic in the morning and evening rush periods so leaving aside aesthetic arguments and protection of the countryside, major development to the east seems impractical.
The huge area of open space remaining for housing development on the scale of Bosden Farm is to the west of the Middlewood Way at Rose Hill, from Hawk Green across to Torkington and High Lane across to the Racecourse Estate. The centre point of all of this development will be the line of the old railway/ Middlewood Way. Extensive development may not take place in the near future but as land for housing becomes increasingly scarce and the golf courses and landowners find themselves perched upon land which is so valuable it might as well have a vein of gold running beneath it I have little doubt that the local authority, irregardless of political persuasion will eventually permit development.
Why not pre-empt this development by introducing train trams onto the Middlewood way line to create a link from Rose Hill to Hazel Grove and Stockport stations. New stops at the northern end of Winnington Road, Wood Lane, Torkington Road with an improvement in the road to serve car parks for people from Hawk Green and to the west of High Lane and then either drop to the Disley tunnel line or continue to Middlewood station.
If the above suggestion is considered to be too ambitious,I have said it before on the site but I will say it again, forget the Stockport - Guide Bridge line for a tram. It is so circuitous by the time you arrive at Stockport station it would have been quicker sitting on the bus. The best route for a tram from Marple to Stockport is railway line to Lingard Lane M60, along Brinnington Road to the Jack and Jill pub, drop into the old railway track cutting adjacent to St Bernadette's school, descend to use Tiviot Way to cross to the northern bank of the River Tame, cross the derelict fields below the Lancashire Hill flats, use Lancashire Hill Bridge across the M60 and then Princes St into Mersey Square and bus station.
