ByCharlotte Oliver, Charlotte Oliver
Renewed plans for an eruv in Hale, Manchester, could lead to "an increase in antisemitism", a local Tory councillor has claimed.
Patrick Myers voiced his concerns after a letter on plans for a 12-mile religious boundary was sent to residents by the Hale Eruv Project Trust, headed by Rabbi Joel Portnoy of Hale and District Hebrew Congregation. It will require the installation of 95 six-metre high steel poles at 50 sites around Hale and Hale Barns.
The letter pointed out that the eruv would allow observant Jews to keep Shabbat while using items such as wheelchairs or children's pushchairs.
Cllr Myers contended that an eruv would "inflame anti-Jewish sentiments in the area. Since it was announced in the local paper, I have had lots of phone calls and people stopping me on the street telling me they don't want it.
"One person rang to tell me that when the poles go up, they will take a saw and cut them all down. If you get one idiot doing something unacceptable, other people could follow suit."
He will oppose the eruv application when it goes before the council's planning committee in September.
A Hale eruv was mooted as far back as 2000. But its proposers were forced to go "back to the drawing board" after an angry public meeting two years ago.
A trust spokesperson argued that "from the experience of previous projects, the scheme has no impact on the complexion of the community. The eruv has impact only on [those in] the Jewish community who wish to take advantage of it."