Affordable housing development at the site of a former Wigan school is given green light

At the old St Mary’s Primary site there will be a mix of apartments, bungalows and two to four bedroom houses just off Derby Street. They will all be affordable.

The now disused land will contain properties that would be let on an affordable rent basis and managed by Wigan Council.

The Wigan Housing Needs Assessment confirmed that there are 1,763 households in need for Wigan North, where this development would be, with a total backlog of 656 affordable dwellings and the total annual affordable need for the sub area is 334.

This is the highest demand of any sub-area in the borough.

The development is forecasted to generate 20 two-way trips in the peak periods of the morning and evening of the working week, a report stated.

As this is below 30, no further modelling of junctions were required by the highways team.

It is also recognised in the officer’s report that the development will generate significantly less traffic than the previous school had before it closed in 2004.

Access would be given via Derby Street and car parking has been included on the site for houses.

There will also be a play area refurbishment included in the development.

When the proposal was announced back in June 2022, Coun Susan Gambles, portfolio holder for housing at Wigan Council, dubbed the project as “meeting the needs of the borough’s residents” with the council hoping this can reduce the demand on their growing waiting list for affordable housing.