Wigan farm owner insists she is not selling up as council proposes employment site on her land

Latham House Farm, in Kitt Green, stands in the way of a “high-quality employment site” earmarked in the Wigan draft Local Plan, which is currently out for public consultation.

But Gillian Morris, who runs the farm between junction 26 of the M6 and Spring Road, is determined her farm and donkeys will remain.

Gillian and husband Jimmy have been looking after Blackpool donkeys during winter for 25 years, and the family has farmed the land for more than a century.

She thought she had won the battle against development when she successfully prevented the farm being taken over in 2016.

But at a public consultation event at Pemberton Masonic Hall, Gillian objected to a slide in a council presentation which she says implied a deal to sell the farm might be on the table, as more than 300 people turned up to examine the plans.

“They had no right to do that,” she said. “They’ve tried to make it look as though I’m going to sell the farm, which is absolutely not going to happen. It’s like they’re trying to persuade me to sell – it’s outrageous.

“I fought this in 2016 and I will fight it again. I asked them to remove the slide but the council officials at first refused. I told them I would take the laptop away, if they didn’t remove it. Eventually, they complied.”

Wigan Council say there was no suggestion on the slide that the farm would be sold.

The slide said: “We understand that the site promoters [developers] have approached the owners of Latham House Farm. We would look to support both parties to achieve a mutually acceptable outcome, if needed.”

The draft Local Plan sets a target of 16,527 new homes “in the right locations” by 2029 as well as new “high-quality employment sites” in the M6, A580 (East Lancs Road) and Wigan-Bolton growth corridors, with the aim of creating thousands of jobs.

On land near junction 26 of the M6, some 1.6m sq ft of employment space is put forward in the plan – believed to be a 140-lorry park and three mega warehouses.

However, residents and a councillor voiced their opposition to the plan at the meeting.

Pemberton councillor Eileen Rigby said she was “totally in support” of residents objecting to the plans, regardless of the fact that she is a member of the controlling Labour group.

“I am not on the planning committee,” she said. “But I have made my feelings known and I will continue to do so.

“There are lots of empty warehouses in Wigan, this site is not needed. I feel so sorry for Gillian. They were promised eight years ago, they would be left alone by the council, and now they come back with this. And it would make the traffic going into Pemberton from the motorway so much worse.”

Resident Anne Fairhurst said: “The noise and pollution from the site is going to be horrendous. That’s not to mention the traffic around here, which is already awful.

Karon Baldwin added: “It’s hugely disturbing that they think they can take so much green belt land away.”

Peter Sumner, 75, said: “At the moment, I’ve got a lovely view from my bungalow over green fields towards the M6. If this goes ahead, all I’ll be able to see is a huge warehouse.

“And I’ve looked at the plans and I can see no reference to any possible access road, which they will need for such a development.”

Sarah Keenan, 46, lives on a housing estate nearby with a large number of elderly people without internet access.

“What I find disturbing is that the online consultation is excluding these people. I also find it very disconcerting that there are very few planning notices, even though they are inviting people to comment. It seems very much like a box-ticking exercise, but they are filtering out the older residents from the process.

“But it’s important for people to understand that they must object and that they don’t think it’s a done deal.”

Nikki Craven, 44, and Mick Nanyn, 42, live in homes on Orrell Road that could be demolished if the plan goes ahead.

They say their homes are among four at risk of being subject to local authority compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), although there is no specific reference to this in the draft Local Plan.

Nikki said: “I am absolutely disgusted with this whole thing. It looks like I’m going to have to fight this to the bitter end.”

Mick said: “This is appalling. They have no right to do this. We are totally against what they are trying to do.”

Wigan Council’s director of place Aidan Thatcher said: “The Local Plan takes a ‘brownfield first’ approach, looking first at previously developed land to allocate sites for homes, jobs, transport, green space and much more, ensuring our borough develops in the best way for current and future residents over the next 15 years.

“The site of junction 26 of the M6 has been included in this plan as a key opportunity to create substantial, high-quality employment, creating jobs for people in our borough. The proposed link road between the M6 and Spring Road would also provide direct access to Martland Park and help reduce HGV movements around Orrell Post, Pemberton town centre and City Road.

“Changes to national planning policy mean that there is a very strong case that this site is now within ‘grey belt’ and, as such, the council has a responsibility to bring it forward in a planned way and not leave it vulnerable to inappropriate development by external parties.

“The views of residents, businesses and other stakeholders are really important to us, and we encourage everyone to share their views as part of the ongoing online public consultation at wigan.gov.uk/futurewigan.”