Campaigners fighting to save green belt land are urging Wigan Council bosses to drop their plans

A site between the villages of Astley and Boothstown by the East Lancashire Road, known as Bridgewater West, is included as part of Wigan Council’s draft local plan.

The authority’s report states that the area is “allocated for a high quality business park-led mixed-use development, together with homes and leisure and visitor attractions”.

But people living in Boothstown, which is just over the border in Salford, said any building on the site would put more pressure on roads and services in the area.

Tony Jeffreys, who is 85, lives on a street next to the green open space.

He said: “This is typical. They won’t be happy until they have concreted over everything around Boothstown.

“There’s already too much traffic, it really does impact our quality of life. I think it should be left as it is, quite a lot of people use it. I’ve lived here since 1966 and the cows used to come to the street. I would hate to see it go.”

Another Boothstown resident, 67-year-old Phil Hall, added: “I think it’s madness. The infrastructure is not there and roads are already overstretched.

“At rush hour it’s like a car park on Leigh Road, it takes 20 minutes to drive a mile, and we know it’s going to get worse because of housing projects in the area.

“It used to be a small village, it will lose that quiet nature, it will all be urban sprawl."

Earlier this year hundreds of people joined a Facebook group and took part in a protest march to oppose plans to release the land from the green belt.

As well as traffic concerns, there were fears over the threat to rare birds, including yellow hammers and lapwings, and crested newts.

Coun David Molyneux, the leader of Wigan Council, defended the draft local plan, and explained it would come with a “substantial green buffer” between existing communities.

He said: “The proposed allocation of Bridgewater West is a unique opportunity to create new jobs in our borough, particularly in research, development and technology.

“These industries are underrepresented in our borough so this development is a chance to bring high-quality jobs and skilled workers to the area, while also supporting the borough’s economic growth.”

He added that the development could also help to provide “much-needed homes” in the area and include infrastructure upgrades.

Coun Molyneux said: “The plans will include highway and infrastructure improvements, with new access and a car park for Lancashire Mining Museum as well as measures to safeguard and support nature recovery at Chat Moss.

“Public transport improvements will also be included in the development, integrating the site with guided busway services.

“To mitigate the impact of any new development, high quality strategic landscaping will be installed along external site boundaries to soften the green belt edge, including a substantial ‘green buffer’ between the development and existing adjacent communities.”

Wigan Council’s draft local plan is progressing through its development, with a cabinet meeting scheduled for November where a decision will be made on whether to agree the document for the next round of public consultation.

Bridgewater West is not the only site being eyed up for development in the area.

A masterplan for land north of Mosley Common aims to build more than 1,000 new homes, and to the east of Boothstown, there are plans to build 295 houses near RHS Garden Bridgewater.

Worsley and Eccles MP Michael Wheeler called for Wigan Council to keep Bridgewater West from being built on.

He said: “This is not something happening in isolation, it has to be seen in the context of all the development around Boothstown, around Astley and around Mosley Common.

“This is one of the final bits of green belt acting as a buffer between Wigan borough and Salford.

“None of the infrastructure has really been upgraded to cope with what’s already come through the pipeline, let alone what is coming through the pipeline.

“Having the potential for more development at the other end of that pipeline is just not something that I can support and I feel quite strongly about that.”

The Labour MP, who represents constituents on both sides of the Salford-Wigan boundary, said new housing projects have to meet local needs.

He added: “If someone brings forward proposals that will genuinely do something to tackle the housing crisis that we’re facing, we’re talking affordable homes, social homes, good mixed development, then there’s a lot of consultation, engagement and difficult conversations to have.

“But we’ve seen from experience that’s not what’s coming forward, we’re seeing development primarily for the purpose of making money, we are not seeing development that will contribute towards tackling the big issues that we’re facing.”

Coun Bob Clarke, who represents the Boothstown and Ellenbrook ward on Salford City Council, said: “If this development goes ahead, it will mean the permanent loss of precious green space, heavier traffic on already congested roads like the East Lancashire Road, Leigh Road and junction 13 [of the M60] and even more pressure on overstretched local services such as schools and healthcare.

“Perhaps most worrying of all, it would erase the distinct identities of Boothstown and Astley, merging them into one continuous urban sprawl.

“Residents are increasingly frustrated by Wigan’s environmental destruction and the mounting strain it places on Salford’s infrastructure.

“For Wigan, it’s a win-win: build on Salford’s border, push all the problems our way and keep all the tax revenue for themselves.”