Anger erupts as Wigan Council reveals plans to remove land from green belt

Hundreds and possibly thousands of residents will carry out a protest march to Wigan’s border with Salford.

About 200 people attended a public meeting in Astley to plan the march, which will start at 1pm on Sunday, from Little Shakerley Common off Ellesmere Street, to Boothstown FC on Amberhill Way.

Membership of a Facebook group launched only two weeks ago, tagged Save our Astley and Boothstown Greenbelt, has soared to 1,100 people.

Scores of people filed into Astley Community Club to hear one of the group’s administrators Sandra Robinson call for people to make the march “a huge Wigan protest”.

"We need to shout about this,” she told attendees.

Anger has erupted over Wigan’s initial draft Local Plan which is out for consultation until June 24. It sets a target to deliver 16,527 new homes in the borough “in the right locations” by 2039 at a rate of 972 a year.

Another objective is to “raise the economic profile” of the borough with new high-quality employment sites in the M6, the A580 (East Lancs Road) and the Wigan-Bolton growth corridors. The draft plan identifies six sites which are key to housing delivery: North Leigh Park (1,400 homes), South Hindley (2,000 homes), the remaining land south of Atherton (320 homes), land east of Atherton (600 homes), remaining land at Landgate, Ashton (400 homes) and Westwood Park, Wigan (420 homes).

Residents spoke of the fear of up to 300 houses on greenbelt land between Astley, from the site of Lancashire Mining Museum to Boothstown.

They cited major concern over traffic congestion, which they say is already a major problem and will be made worse by more housing. There are also fears over the threat to rare birds, including yellow hammers and lapwings, and crested newts.

“There are 300 mature trees in this area and three miles of hawthorn hedges which are under threat,” said Sandra. “We are also worried about the displacement of deer from the RHS site in Worsley and the loss of bridleways and footpaths. And as far as the traffic problems are concerned, we all know they are horrendous.”

Wigan Council argues that green belt covers 55.7 per cent of the borough. It says the current Local Plan proposals represent a 1.3 per cent reduction, which means more than half of Wigan would still be within green belt land.

Council leader David Molyneux said: “This Local Plan sets out our ambitions for our borough and how we will deliver them to tackle inequality and create opportunities. The proposed allocation of Bridgewater West is an opportunity to create new jobs in our area, in research and development and technology, alongside a new community in our borough.

“The proposals for this site also include highway improvements, a new access and car park for Lancashire Mining Museum and measures to safeguard and support nature recovery at Chat Moss. We know that people feel really strongly about their community, their area and what happens where they live and we absolutely want to hear from our residents. I would encourage everyone to respond to the consultation and make your voice heard.”