What the latest draft of Greater Manchester’s housing masterplan means for Wigan

A long-awaited masterplan for housing, jobs and the environment in Greater Manchester is set to be approved at a meeting of local leaders today.
Fewer homes are now proposed for Mosley CommonFewer homes are now proposed for Mosley Common
Fewer homes are now proposed for Mosley Common

The latest version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which has faced years of delays, disputes and controversy, was published last week.

A major proposal in Wigan has now been removed from the plans.

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Greenfield land south of Pennington, along the East Lancashire Road, had been earmarked for 1,000 homes in the 2016 draft of the 20-year masterplan.

This was then changed to a proposal for 160,000 sq m of "employment space" in last year’s version – but the site has now disappeared from the document.

However, a huge expansion of industrial land at junction 25 of the M6 remains.

Around 140,000 sqm of "high quality" floorspace would be delivered with access from the motorway and the A49, avoiding adverse impact on traffic.

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Walking and cycling links from Winstanley, Hawkley and Bryn would serve the site and connect the A49 to the remaining area of green belt to the north.

The draft document says: “The M6 junction 25 site presents a major opportunity to provide a high quality location for substantial employment development in the M6 corridor.

“The M6 is a major business asset. It is the UK’s most important strategic route for freight movement between the north and south of the country, and Wigan is the only district in Greater Manchester which has direct access to it.

“The site is large, relatively unconstrained, directly accessible to the motorway and has a long visible frontage along it.

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“These attributes make the site highly attractive to the market, including key growth sectors such as logistics and advanced manufacturing which are growing rapidly in the North West.”

The number of homes proposed for land north of Mosley Common have been cut from 1,200 to 1,100 in the latest version of the spatial framework.

And plans for 600 new homes and 15,000 sq m of industrial space at Pocket Nook remain, with 75 homes sitting to the west of the proposed HS2 route.

Land west of Gibfield, west of Atherton, would now accommodate 500 homes rather than 700, although the amount of commercial space stays the same.

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If approved by council leaders on Friday, councillors in each local authority will have the opportunity to vote on the proposals and potentially veto the plan.

An eight-week public consultation on the proposal would then start on December 1 before the masterplan is submitted to the Secretary of State.

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