Standish homes plans approved despite reservations

A mix of properties, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom detached dwellings, is set to be built on the land to the east of Rectory Farm.

A quarter of the new estate will be affordable housing, with 30 homes to be eligible for shared ownership schemes and 11 available for affordable rent.

Another new housing estate built by developer Countryside is located to the west of the site, which is bounded by the West Coast Mainline to the east.

It comes after Wigan Council refused to grant planning permission in principle to build up to 128 homes on the 11-acre parcel of land – but this decision was later overturned by a planning inspector following an appeal by the developer.

The planning committee was told it could now only consider the scale of the development, its layout, appearance and landscaping.

But residents at the neighbouring Barrowcroft Green estate objected to the reserved matters planning application on the grounds of highway safety.

Speaking on their behalf at the planning committee meeting, Paul Hassan argued the plans afford ‘inadequate’ access to the new development.

The new homes would be accessed from a road on the existing estate, but Mr Hassan said access should be from Rectory Lane instead, claiming that there is a blind left turn from Broadfern – although a council report said otherwise.

Mr Hassan, a senior insurance lawyer, warned the local authority that it could be legally liable for any serious accidents which would be costly if they ended up in court.

He said: “They’re introducing a significantly increased risk of such incidents on the highway and they are likely to be a potential second defendant to any legal proceedings.

“An award in the region of five to £10m for this kind of accident of a serious nature is not unheard of.”

John Coxon, associate director at Emery Planning, told councillors that these access arrangements were approved at the appeal for the outline application.

Speaking on behalf of applicant HIMOR, he said the ‘high quality’ development is ‘deliverable’ with a housebuilder on board and already involved in the plans.

Coun Stuart Gerrard supported the officers’ recommendations, despite taking issue with some aspects of the development already approved.

He said: “There’s a lot of houses going into a very small space again.

“I do feel for the residents who have to put up with this and the extra traffic it’s going to involve.

“But unfortunately we have to have what’s in front of us.”

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