Heald Green and Long Lane Ratepayers Association is a

Ratepayers' Association Ratepayers' Association in the United Kingdom and other countries is a name used by a political party or electoral alliance contesting a local election to represent the interests of those who pay rates (tax), rates to the municipal government. In Ca ...

in the Heald Green ward of the

Metropolitan Borough of Stockport The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is south-east of central Manchester and south of Tameside. As well as the towns of Stockport, Bredbury and Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, ...

. In every

local election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct var ...

since its creation in 1927, independents sponsored by the association have held the council seats in the ward. The association has also supplied three mayors and two deputy mayors since the ward became a part of Stockport in 1974. The association states that it does not have a manifesto or party policies, instead sponsoring councillors who live in the area to represent the community.

History

The association was formed in 1927 following the creation of the Heald Green electoral ward. In 1962, the ratepayers' launched a community magazine named ''CONTACT''. The ratepayers' association would become entangled with the construction and development of runways at

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...

several times through its history. As far back as April 1960, the association joined forces with the Hale Barns and

Handforth Handforth is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population of the parish was 6,715 at the 2021 census. In the 1960s and 1970s, two overspill housing estates, Spath Lane in Handforth, and Colshaw ...

ratepayer associations to spearhead opposition against the development of the new runways, due to

noise pollution Noise pollution, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...

concerns. During a meeting of the Manchester Airport Consultative Committee, founded by the airport in 1969, the chair stated "we are watching the airport consultative committee like hawks and we shall not hesitate to give it a kick in the right place." In 1997, the group began campaigning alongside local groups such as the Manchester Airport Joint Action Group and the Stockport Campaign Against Runway Extension against the construction of Runway 2. Councillor Peter Burns made a statement on the runway in 2005, nearly four years following its construction amid local complaints: "I feel that Manchester Airport has already broken an undertaking given to residents under the flight path of this runway - and it had only been open for 102 hours." A spokesperson for Manchester Airport stated that due to debris, planes were forced to land on the second runway from the

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

direction.

Electoral performance

References

External links

Official website
{{British political parties 1927 establishments in England Locally based political parties in England