Eruv approved in Hale despite ‘very angry’ local opposition

Trafford Council has approved plans to create an eruv in Hale despite hundreds of objections from the local community.

Fifty-two steel poles connected by a line of filament or nylon wire will now be erected around the village to create a zone in which Orthodox Jews can push prams, use walking sticks and carry house keys on Shabbat.

The decision marks the culmination of a 10-year planning battle.

At the council meeting, at which it was approved, however, Mark Guterman, a local Jewish resident, insisted that the wider Jewish community "do not want this proposal now".

Only “seven or eight people” would benefit from it, he said.

“With the heightened tensions of the Middle East and antisemitism on the rise, a small group of vigilantes are fronting for Hale Synagogue,” Guterman claimed.

However, Rabbi Yisroel Binstock from Hale Synagogue said the eruv would help the community’s most vulnerable members.

"Without an eruv, any members of the Jewish community who are not able to walk unaided and rely on the assistance of a wheelchair, walking stick or buggy, face a decision on whether they choose to compromise on sacred Shabbat observance or remain isolated from the rest of the Jewish community at the most important time of the week,” he said.

"With an eruv, they are able to participate in religious and social life.”

On Monday, the Jewish Representative Council of Manchester thanked the planning committe for approving the scheme.

"This will be groundbreaking news for observant members of our community,” they said. 

Speaking in favour of the eruv, Owain Sutton, a Green Party councillor for Hale, said the council's planning department had to stop people responding to plans online because antisemitism had "come to the fore".

"We are proud of the rich diversity across Hale, and the small minority who discriminate are far outnumbered by those who always welcome and appreciate people from all backgrounds,” he told the council meeting.

Local opposition to the plan was spearheaded by South Trafford Against The Eruv, who asked locals to object to the council to prevent a “religious perimeter” from being built around Hale.

Former councillor Neil Taylor told the JC that people were “very, very angry” that the scheme had been rushed through.

"It’s not a denial of anybody’s religion and there’s no antisemitism involved,” he said.

"We’ve got a large part of the Jewish community that don’t want an eruv. It will only serve a very small amount of people. The main reason for [the objection] is that any way you look, it’s creating a religious boundary, it will be forming an enclave. Once you start to set a precedent for that, where is it going to stop?”