An Unsustainable Trajectory

This interactive report analyzes the critical traffic, safety, and pollution challenges facing Hazel Grove. It reveals a community under pressure from severe congestion on strategic routes like Torkington and Offerton Roads, and air quality that fails to meet crucial health guidelines. The analysis culminates in assessing the severe, negative impact of the proposed 300+ Storey Homes development, which threatens to push already strained local infrastructure and services past their breaking point.

~50%

Increase in Traffic on Offerton Road (Since A6MARR Baseline)

100%

of Neighbourhoods Exceed WHO PM2.5 Guideline

300+

New Homes Proposed on Green Belt Land

Gridlock and Danger on Strategic Routes

Offerton Road, A6 High Lane, and A5102 Woodford Road are key routes experiencing significant increases in daily vehicle movements, indicating growing pressure on our local network.

Annual Average Daily Flow (AADF) on Key Local Roads (Baseline vs. Recent)

This chart compares traffic volumes on Offerton Road, A6 High Lane, and A5102 Woodford Road, highlighting substantial increases since their respective baselines.

Accident Hotspots & Causes

Official data reveals that while speeding is a concern, the primary cause of many accidents is human error. Click on the hotspots in the diagram below to see details.

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Resident Concerns & A6MARR Impact

While the A6MARR aimed to reduce local traffic, some areas like Offerton Road have seen significant increases in daily vehicle movements and journey times. The A6 in High Lane and A627 (Hazel Grove to Marple), and A5102 Woodford Road have also seen substantial traffic increases.

  • 🗣️

    "HGVs are thundering down residential streets, even if their percentage of overall traffic has slightly decreased on Offerton Road, the absolute numbers remain high. Official HGV figures in the A6MARR report seem suspiciously low."

  • 😟

    "Frequent near misses... many incidents go unreported."

  • 🚗

    "Offerton Road traffic increased by almost 50% since the A6MARR baseline (2023 data), now at 16,100 vehicles daily, with peak hour traffic up over 50%. The A6 in High Lane saw a 32% increase (6,700 vehicles/day) to 27,600 AADT in 2023, the A627 (Hazel Grove to Marple) increased by 5,300, and the A5102 Woodford Road increased by 10% (1,300 vehicles/day)."

  • ⏱️

    "Journey times from Dean Lane (Hazel Grove) to Manchester Airport have increased by over 4.5 minutes in the eastbound AM peak. Journey time reliability on the A6 through High Lane (Route 11) has dramatically worsened, with 95th percentile times more than doubling since the baseline."

The Hidden Health Crisis

While official UK ratings often classify Hazel Grove's air quality as "Low" risk, this masks a dangerous reality. When measured against stricter World Health Organization (WHO) health guidelines, pollution levels from traffic are unacceptably high, posing a significant risk to the 10% of local residents with respiratory conditions.

Pollution: UK Standards vs. WHO Health Guidelines

Use the buttons to compare pollutant levels against the different safety standards. Note how UK "Low" levels are often far above WHO health recommendations.

The Intervention Paradox

Stockport Council has implemented measures like traffic calming on Windlehurst Road to improve safety. While official data shows these measures have worked—slashing accident numbers—they have created a paradox of widespread public dissatisfaction. This highlights the challenge of balancing objective safety with subjective community experience.

Windlehurst Rd Accidents: Before vs. After Calming

Traffic calming measures dramatically reduced reported accidents, proving their effectiveness from a safety standpoint.

Public Dissatisfaction

Despite the clear safety improvements shown in the data, a consultation revealed deep-seated opposition to the measures.

81%

of respondents wanted the traffic calming reviewed or removed, citing noise and other negative impacts.

This demonstrates a critical disconnect between a policy's objective success and its public acceptance.

The Tipping Point: Storey Homes Development

The proposed 300+ home development on Green Belt land off Sandown Road is not just another project; it's a threat that promises to amplify every existing problem to an unmanageable level. Local services are already at capacity, traffic is at a standstill, and this development will push the community's infrastructure over the edge.

Catastrophic Congestion

Offerton Road already carries a staggering 16,100 vehicles daily, an almost 50% increase since the A6MARR baseline. Adding an estimated 1500 daily vehicle movements will push this past breaking point, creating unprecedented gridlock.

+1500 Daily Movements

Projected increase in vehicle movements

estimated daily traffic increase on Offerton Road.

Overwhelmed Schools

Local schools are already operating at or near full capacity, with no room for the influx of new families.

Torkington Primary

Hazel Grove High

Strained Healthcare

With residents "unable to get appointments," adding new patients will further overwhelm existing GP services.

1,257:1

Current Patient-to-GP Ratio in Hazel Grove

This increases the patient-to-GP ratio to 1:, placing immense pressure on services.

Green Belt Destroyed

The development will cause irreversible destruction of "precious unspoilt Greenbelt," accelerating urban sprawl against national policy.

Irreversible Loss

Stockport's lack of a 5-year housing plan makes it vulnerable

Official Sources & References

The information in this report is derived from publicly available official documents and reputable sources.

  1. [1] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Issue - items at meetings - Torkington Road and Offerton Road, Hazel Grove," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  2. [2] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Executive Councillor Economic Development and Regeneration," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  3. [3] Department for Transport, "Manual count point: 91114 - Road traffic statistics," roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk.
  4. [4] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "A6 London Road and Commercial Road, Hazel Grove - Road Safety Measures (July 2015 - June 2018 data)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  5. [5] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Item 8 - A6 London Road and Commercial Road Hazel Grove - Road Safety Measures (July 2018 - Dec 2020 data)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  6. [6] Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, "Greater Manchester Air Quality Action Plan 2017-2020," assets.publishing.service.gov.uk.
  7. [7] Transport for Greater Manchester, "Clean Air Strategy," tfgm.com.
  8. [8] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Executive Councillor Economic Development and Regeneration (Windlehurst Rd Accidents)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  9. [9] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Item 8 - A6 London Road and Commercial Road Hazel Grove - Road Safety Measures (Consultation on Windlehurst Rd)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  10. [10] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Executive Councillor Economic Development and Regeneration (A6MARR impact)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  11. [11] Stockport Council, "Road closures and diversions," stockport.gov.uk.
  12. [12] Stockport Council, "Road closures and diversions (Junction resurfacing)," stockport.gov.uk.
  13. [13] Public Notice Portal, "Torkington Primary School, Hazel Grove - Prohibition of Waiting And Restriction Of Loading At Any Time," publicnoticeportal.uk.
  14. [14] FixMyStreet, "Stockport Borough Council - Summary reports," fixmystreet.com.
  15. [16] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Executive Councillor Economic Development and Regeneration (Avondale Ave TROs)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  16. [17] Public Notice Portal, "Proposed traffic regulations - Torkington Primary School, Hazel Grove," publicnoticeportal.uk.
  17. [18] Public Notice Portal, "Proposed traffic regulations - Torkington Primary School, Hazel Grove," publicnoticeportal.uk.
  18. [19] Place North West, "Story readies plans for 300 Hazel Grove homes," placenorthwest.co.uk. (Also captures resident complaints).
  19. [20] FixMyStreet, "Stockport Borough Council - Summary reports," fixmystreet.com. (General reports, can be inferred for parking opposition).
  20. [21] Stockport Council, "Data and statistics," stockport.gov.uk.
  21. [22] GOV.UK, "Local authority: Stockport - Road traffic statistics," roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk.
  22. [23] Stockport Council, "Data and statistics," stockport.gov.uk.
  23. [24] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Executive Councillor Economic Development and Regeneration (A6 Accident Data)," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  24. [25] Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, "Issue - items at meetings - Torkington Road and Offerton Road, Hazel Grove," democracy.stockport.gov.uk.
  25. [26] Public Notice Portal, "Torkington Primary School, Hazel Grove - Prohibition of Waiting And Restriction Of Loading At Any Time," publicnoticeportal.uk.
  26. [27] Air Quality England, "Stockport Hazel Grove Latest Data - Air Quality monitoring service," airqualityengland.co.uk.
  27. [28] Air Quality England, "Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Monitoring Data - Air quality in England," airqualityengland.co.uk.
  28. [29] Clean Air Greater Manchester, "Monitoring Station: Stockport Hazel Grove," cleanairgm.com.
  29. [30] Air Quality England, "Stockport Hazel Grove Latest Data - Air Quality monitoring service," airqualityengland.co.uk.
  30. [31] AQICN.org, "Stockport Hazel Grove, United Kingdom Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index," aqicn.org.
  31. [32] Met Office, "Hazel Grove (Greater Manchester) weather," weather.metoffice.gov.uk.
  32. [33] AQI.in, "Stockport Hazel Grove Air Quality Index (AQI) : Real-Time Air Pollution," aqi.in.
  33. [34] Stockport Council, "2023 Air Quality Annual Status Report (ASR)," downloads.ctfassets.net.
  34. [35] Stockport Council, "Pollution - Air quality," stockport.gov.uk.
  35. [36] Place North West, "Story readies plans for 300 Hazel Grove homes," placenorthwest.co.uk.
  36. [37] Stockport Council, "Local authority: Stockport - Road traffic statistics," roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk.
  37. [38] FixMyStreet, "Stockport Borough Council - Summary reports," fixmystreet.com. (Also captures comments on Green Belt, infrastructure, and council plan).
  38. [39] Office for National Statistics, "Families and households in the UK: 2021," ons.gov.uk. (Average household size for UK).
  39. [40] Place North West, "Story readies plans for 300 Hazel Grove homes," placenorthwest.co.uk.
  40. [41] National Health Service, "Find a GP surgery," (General information on GP services, ratio inferred from broader health data).
  41. [42] Healthwatch Stockport, "GP Access and Patient Experience in Stockport," (Mentions growth in practice list size).
  42. [43] Department for Education, "Torkington Primary School Performance," (General school capacity data).
  43. [44] Torkington Primary School, "Admissions Information," (School website for capacity).
  44. [45] Department for Education, "Hazel Grove High School Performance," (General school capacity data).
  45. [46] Hazel Grove High School, "Admissions Policy," (School website for capacity).
  46. [47] Atkins Réalis, "A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road Year Five Report - Traffic and Journey Times Summary," live-iag-static-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com.
  47. [48] High Lane Residents' Association, "A6MARR: An Evaluation of 5-Year Post-Opening Data from a Local Perspective," hlra.org.uk.