A bid to build housing on a former bowling green in Barton has been paused after councillors were not convinced the site is 'surplus to requirements'.
The land behind the Rock House pub in Peel Green Road has most recently been used for festivals, car boot sales and other events for the community.
But because it was once a bowling green, it is still considered by the council to be a recreational site which must be replaced if it is developed for other uses.
It must also be 'clearly demonstrated' that there is no demand for the site as a bowling green or for another recreational use, according to the council's policy.
Punch Pubs, the brewery behind the plans to build eight houses on the site, offered to pay £150,000 towards other recreational facilities in the area.
Salford council's officers recommended approving the application – but the planning panel deferred the decision, requesting a more 'robust report'.
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Barton and Winton councillor John Mullen criticised the officers' report at a panel meeting on Thursday (June 3), saying it was 'literred with factual errors'.
He told councillors on the panel that the community had become 'attached' to this piece of land and wants to turn it into allotments which are in short supply.
Salford's ceremonial mayor also accused the landowner of allowing the site to become overgrown in the hope that 'people would start being angry about it'.
He said: "The dereliction is entirely the applicant's fault as they closed off all access when they redeveloped the pub and they made sure that the refurbished pub had no access to that land so therefore it was detached purposely for the purposes of sale. That's as clear a strategy as you can get."
The Labour councillor also went through a list of other bowling greens in the area identified in the council report, claiming half of them no longer exist.
He refuted claims that it would not be possible to create allotments on the site.
And he dismissed the financial contribution from the company, which the council said would be used for recreational improvements to Patricroft Park.
He said: "There's no possible enhancements that you can do. It's already got a children's park and it's got active football pitches, all of which are maintained.
"What on earth are you going to build on there?"
Speaking on behalf of Punch Pubs, Jeremy Heppell told the panel that the brewery spent £480,000 refurbishing the Rock House pub in October 2019.
He described the land behind the pub as 'largely dormant' and said this application for housing, the third on the site, is a 'completely new scheme'.
He said: "We have looked closely at the concerns with the 2014 application and the scheme is now further from the boundary with adjoining neighbours and windows have been carefully positioned and separation distances provided to ensure there won't be overlooking or overshadowing."
The planning panel voted to defer the decision, requesting more information.
Planning chair Ray Mashiter supported councillors' comments, saying he was not satisfied that the site is surplus to requirements with regards to recreation.
He said: "I see the design merits of the application – it's quite well laid out as a site.
"But my worry is I'm not 100 pc satisfied at this moment in time that this site is actually surplus to requirements."
The application will return to be decided by the planning panel at a later date.
