Eruv with 12-mile route approved despite objections

Plans to erect a series of poles to create a special area for Orthodox Jews have been approved by councillors despite hundreds of objections.

The proposals for an eruv to be put in place around the village of Hale, Greater Manchester, on a Saturday were first put forwards a decade ago.

An eruv is a symbolic boundary exempt from a Jewish rule that forbids the carrying or pushing of items outside Jewish homes on the Sabbath day.

More than 900 local residents objected but Trafford’s planning committee gave the plan the go-ahead.

The 52 street poles will each measure between 22ft and 26ft high and will appear at 26 individual sites.

The area includes Hale Road and Grove Lane to the north; Shay Lane and Burnside to the east; Bankhall Lane and Rappax Road to the south and Ashley Road to the west.

The poles will be placed either side of road junctions and connected by filament fibre cables.

Members of the committee were told that the creation of an eruv did not require planning permission, only the physical infrastructure such as the poles and wires.

Two of the sites are on green belt land and some are in local conservation areas, but councillors heard officers believed the application demonstrated "very special circumstances that overcome the harm by reason of inappropriateness".

Six members of the public, split equally between those in favour and those against, addressed the committee.

After a long debate, the committee voted in favour of approving the plans, with three councillors voting against.

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