Uncertainty over new homes plan for Wigan village

An impression of what houses on the proposed development at Robin House Farm, in Standish, would look like

Uncertainty surrounds the future of plans to build new homes on green land in a borough township.

Developer Kier Living was drawing up proposals last year for 85 properties on Robin Hill Farm, in Standish.

There were to be a mixture of apartments and houses on the site, which has historically been used as grazing land for animals located off Robin Hill Lane, between Standish High School and Pepper Lane.

Kier said it expected to submit a planning application to Wigan Council last June, but it did not materialise.

A month later, residents voted in favour of the Standish Neighbourhood Plan, a document with some 30 policies covering everything from housing and open space to parking and the village centre.

It stated that no more houses could be approved on Standish’s safeguarded land until 1,148 of the 1,821 which had planning permission by April 2018 were occupied.

Developers also have to prove new building is not detrimental to life in Standish, with exceptions for projects involving 100 per cent affordable housing and places for elderly people to live.

Now, more than six months after the plans were originally due to be submitted, it remains unclear whether the firm still hopes to build on Robin Hill Farm.

A Kier spokesman said: “We would like to thank local residents in Standish for all of their responses to our proposals for Robin House Farm.

“Future plans for the site are still being considered and this feedback, alongside the Standish Neighbourhood Plan, are important considerations as to how we may move forward.”

A further request for information on whether Kier still intended to develop the site did not receive a response.

The firm said last year it had drawn up plans for the homes over several months, taking into account Standish’s Neighbourhood Plan as well as the Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

But in the past few years, community groups and Standish councillors and activists across the political spectrum have expressed fury at the amount of houses given the go-ahead in Standish and called for the creation of new estates to be halted.

Paul Ogden, vice-chairman of residents’ group Standish Voice, said: “We informed Kier when these proposals were first announced early last year that the development they were planning did not comply with the draft of Standish Neighbourhood Plan.

“Part of that site is in a new green corridor, a policy in the plan, where strict rules on mitigating biodiversity loss need to be considered.

“Also, Kier would have to comply with housing policies in the plan which prevent any more house building on sites such as this until a level of current building is achieved.

“Also, Kier would have to show that their development would not have a detrimental impact on the community in a range of measurements.

“We were told that Kier would delay lodging any planning application for that site until after the Neighbourhood Plan referendum last summer.

“The people of Standish overwhelmingly backed the Neighbourhood Plan, with 94.5 per cent of voters saying yes to it. This gave a strong signal to Kier and Wigan Council that housing development on that greenfield site was not welcome and any loss of the green corridor would have to be addressed in full.

“We have no doubt that developers will want to target Standish’s remaining greenfield ‘safeguarded’ land but they must put in place extensive proposals which comply with Standish Neighbourhood Plan policies, which have now been adopted by Wigan Council.”