It was my pleasure today to be invited to attend the public demonstration that was planned by the Save Barton Moss protest group on Liverpool Road in Eccles.

I know the area reasonably well, since in my last two jobs as a sales rep, I frequented the area (including the nearby Makro) and I have never been able to comprehend the council’s plain daft idea to build an industrial estate on nearby green belt.

Green belt land exists for a number of reasons, which I won’t go into here – but given the Secretary of State’s recent decision to refuse planning for the Worsley Racecourse on the grounds that building on Green Belt couldn’t be justified, it seems bonkers for the Labour-controlled Salford Council to continue with the industrial estate building plan.

I joined Salford Lib Dem Leader and Prospective MP for Salford & Eccles Norman Owen in the protest and it was good to chat with demonstration organiser Jackie Anderson about how well the protest group has grown. Norman has supported the Save Barton Moss campaign and helped them ensure they have had their voices heard by the council. The group’s arguments are sensible, well thought out and conveyed to the council with attention to detail. Other protest groups would do well to emulate the Save Barton Moss campaign’s strategy and ethos.

It was pleasing to see cross-party support for the protest, but I was a little irritated to see the local Conservative party staging their own, separate, protest – seemingly organised by Councillor Iain Lindley, who no doubt assumed this would look good on his next leaflet.

A note to the Conservatives, either join in fully with the existing Save Barton Moss campaign or start your own and hold your own party’s support on a different day.

The Salford Liberal Democrats are backing the Save Barton Moss campaign.