Plan for five homes near leisure narrowboats site in Wigan borough

Applicant John Smith of the Joseph Unsworth Trust wants to build two two-storey, two-bed houses and a three-bedroom three-storey house on a fifth-of-an-acre of land adjacent to Platt Croft in Leigh.

If approved, each house will have a car parking space with two spaces for visitors.

Each space is located at the front of the property, allowing for private garden spaces at the rear.

The site, south of Butts Basin and east of Warrington Road/Butts Bridge, has previously been used for garages and a garden, but is now derelict.

The land is detailed in Wigan Council’s Bridge Water Canal Conservation Area appraisal of 2012.

The application reads: “Changes have occurred in some areas within the conservation area since 2012 through forms of development.

"However no new development has occurred close to the site, therefore for the purpose of this application the 2012 appraisal can be considered current and to be relied on for an accurate description of the area’s characteristics.”

The overall character of the area is a mix of Large Industrial Mill Buildings mixed with residential land use.

Butts Basin is where leisure canal barges are moored. In the Wigan Appraisal it is described as “an area of open space reminiscent of a village green, which softens the area.”

The application for the homes is expected to go before planners later this year.