Jason Manford slams 'entitled' locals in a wealthy English village
The comedian slammed a group of 'entitled' villagers during a Cheshire council meeting in England last week, saying he was 'speaking up for children who have nothing'
Comedian Jason Manford has spoken out against villagers who objected to a planning application for a Cheshire riding school that supports deprived children saying they "should know better."
The popular TV comedian attended Wednesday’s meeting of Cheshire East’s strategic planning board to "speak up for children who have nothing" and to support an application from Higher Farm Equine in Over Peover, seeking permission to change the use of its land and buildings from agricultural to equestrian purposes.
The site, which offers private livery, an outdoor arena and equine-assisted learning, helps children from deprived backgrounds by giving them the chance to spend time around horses.
A total of 24 residents, along with the countryside charity CRPE objected the application. Ward councillor Anthony Harrison (Con) told the meeting that the site lies within the green belt and has traditionally been made up of a group of agricultural sheds, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Councillor Phillip Welch, speaking on behalf of Peover Superior and Snelson Parish Council - which also objected - said: "What is being proposed here, or has actually been implemented now, is a riding centre with potentially more than 100 vehicle movements a day…
"What we’ve got now is people coming and going in Ubers to the site. They’re speeding down the driveway at high speed."
Manford, who is a friend of the applicant, told councillors he had attended the meeting to speak on behalf of children whose lives were being changed by Higher Farm. The comedian claimed: "The children born into chaos or poverty.
"They can’t be here in this chamber to defend Higher Farm," he said.
"They can’t tell you what it means to finally walk into somewhere where they’re not being laughed at, they’re not being called a problem, where they can brush a horse and feed a goat, or just be in the countryside."
Manford told councillors that at a previous meeting - not one held by Cheshire East - someone had remarked, "why are their problems becoming mine?"
"These words don’t come from empathy, they come from entitlement," he told councillors.
“They come from people who have everything – stability, comfort, opportunity – handed down like furniture, people who talk about protecting the countryside, but what they really mean is protecting it from anyone who doesn’t look like me."
He explained that the "problems" being referred to were actually children - "children who grow up surrounded by concrete and chaos, who’ve never seen a field that wasn’t forbidden, fenced off."
Speaking to the committee he said: "Higher Farm to them isn’t just therapy. It’s a window into another way of living.
“It’s clean air and it’s calm and it’s what the green belt is meant for – to be shared by everyone, not hoarded by the fortunate few who happen to be born near it.”
Gawsworth councillor Lesley Smetham (Con) added: "I think what’s being done on the farm is admirable. It’s what we need." Councillors did raise concerns about speeding, but officers said signage could be used.
Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Knutsford, Con) who proposed that the application be approved, said: "The reality is that the level of activity being proposed by this scheme is far less than what you could potentially expect if this site was being used to its optimum as an agricultural facility."
He continued: "I think that Mr Manford has incredibly eloquently explained why this is such an important facility. It might not change the world, but it will change the world for the young people who use it."
Cllr Steve Edgar (Haslington, Con) seconded the motion, saying: "I attended the site visit on Friday, and I was mightily impressed with what they’re doing.
"The site itself is spacious, clean, tidy."
The application was approved with conditions, after seven councillors voted in favour and one abstained. A separate request to place a static caravan on the site was also approved, subject to conditions.