Hemmed in Wigan borough residents fear for future as hundreds more homes spring up

Those are words of a resident of Mosley Common – the green oasis in Tyldesley close to its border with Salford, but where 1,050 new homes are to be built on their doorstep.

Rebecca Daniels, 53, gave up her job as a supply teacher because of the traffic congestion around the sleepy 32-house Mosley Park estate, bordering the common.

“I just couldn’t get to the places where I needed to be, because the roads round here are already so bad,” she said. “Imagine how it is going to be with another 1,050 new houses, each with possibly two cars per household.

“We’re already trapped in a nightmare, unable to go anywhere – and it’s going to get worse. I feel sorry for anyone who buys one of those new houses.”

That the new properties will be built is a “done deal” after the land was excluded from the Green Belt in Greater Manchester’s strategic plan for development over the next 15 years – Places for Everyone (PfE) – which was approved a year ago.

The first of multiple phases for the development on land south of the guided busway, which will divide the new housing, was approved in September – an initial tranche of 244 houses.

But the familiar Wigan theme of choked-up roads, a lack of school places, doctors and dental surgeries has resurfaced.

There have also been complaints that planning conditions stipulating work on the site – a former coal mining area – should not start before 8am are being flouted.

All three Tyldesley and Mosley Common ward councillors – Couns Jess Eastoe, Jo Marshall and James Fish – objected to the proposals and continue to be voices of protest on behalf of residents.

On one side of the common there are cottages on City Road. When the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited, there were sheep grazing in the field.

Gary Walker, 53, lives in a house directly overlooking the land. “We’ve already problems with cars bombing up and down here, and this is an unadopted road,” he said.

And he pointed to a farm track yards from this house. “That’s going to be the access road,” he went on. “It will go right through to the bottom of Mosley Common Road [on the other side of the development].

“I think the problem is that we’re 16 miles from Wigan Town Hall, and because we’re so far away, they don’t care.

“This has been a fantastic place to live. I’ve been here 20 years and these houses here date back to the 1840s. It’s hard to believe that there’s such a green place to live on the boundary between Tyldesley and Salford.”

Neighbour Martin Saunders, also 53, rents his home but he’s been there 10 years. “This is an old coal pit area, but it’s a really nice place to live,” he said. “I work in the construction and demolition sector and I know what it’s going to like around here when they start building those houses. To be honest, I’m dreading it.”

Feelings were also running high on the other side of the common, where Rebecca, her neighbours and hosts Paul and Lisa Cowan assemble to tell the LDRS what they think the scheme.

Tim McCarthy, 64, a retired headteacher, said: “We are not NIMBYs [not in my back yard]. Most of us have lived here since these houses were built on brownfield land 25 years ago.

“Our children have grown up here and there will be a new generation of people coming here to bring up their children.

“This plan will murder the infrastructure around here. And there’s the animal life to consider.”

He also said that although an agreement known as a Section 106 stipulated that the developers will finance an extension at St John’s Primary School for more places, there would be also be a shortage secondary school places in the area.

Colin Howell, 62, an electrical engineer works at a company in Crewe. “The traffic is so bad getting off the estate onto Wellington Drive, I have to leave home at 6.15am,” he said. “It’s going to be infinitely worse when there are another 1,050 houses here.”

Paul, 55, said: “Yes, there will be a guided busway stop as part of the plan, but already gets full by the time it reaches here with going on their way into Manchester. What about people living around here who don’t work in Manchester city centre – those who work in Bolton, Leigh, Wigan and other surrounding towns? It’s going to be hell on the roads.”

Property giant Peel L&P’s planning application approval has permitted the demolition of a house on Bridgewater Road to enable the expansion of St John’s Primary School which will cost £3.3m.

It will also shell out a further contribution of £2.5m secondary school places in Atherton, Tyldesley and Leigh.

A Wigan Council spokesperson said the authority would investigate the issue raised over the starting of work times before 8am.

They also referred back to a comment made last year by assistant director for planning David Proctor who said: “This is a significant development that includes 25 per cent affordable housing, expanded primary and secondary education, a new stop on the Guided Busway and investment in infrastructure including the local highway.

“Planning officers and the developer, Peel, have ensured that the proposals brought to the committee were right for our borough.

“The committee’s decision was taken after careful consideration of the application and public comments, and is a milestone in bringing this strategically important development forward.”

Peel said the complaints regarding work starting earlier than the 8am limit set by planning conditions had been passed to the developer Kellen Homes.

A spokesperson for Kellen Homes and Peel said: “There have been a limited number of exploratory works carried out on the land at Mosley Common in Tyldesley in recent weeks, but these are studies to assess the land and do not constitute the start of building works.

"We will continue to liaise with the local community and local elected officials as this site progresses.”