The developers behind a proposed 1,100 home ‘neighbourhood’ to Mosley Common have promised to deal with residents’ concerns at a later date when they submit full planning permission.
Peel L&P has created a masterplan for Mosley Common- but it was kicked back to Wigan Council's cabinet last week for further scrutiny. The Confident Places Scrutiny Committee decided the plan needed to be reviewed again to address points raised by residents on areas from transport to loss of green belt land.
Peel L&P has now explained that matters to do with congested roads, green belt and education provision will be part of their plans submitted when they seek detailed planning permission later in the process.
READ MORE: Plans for 165,000 homes across Greater Manchester will face public hearing
Their ‘masterplan’ includes a vision of a new community and travel hub that would include shops and spaces for events and classes as well as a network of footpaths and cycleways.
Councillor Stuart Gerrard, who called in the decision to approve the masterplan earlier this month, explained that not enough was being done to address issues raised by councillors and residents – which also includes waiting lists to join dentists and GPs as well as bus capacity.
The V1 and V2 buses that run from Leigh and Atherton respectively are regularly not stopping at Mosley Common due to them already being at capacity, Wigan Town Hall heard this week. The Leigh Guided Busway runs through the planned development where a new bus stop would be built to serve the new community.
This financial backing of the new stop will also include additional funds to increase the fleet of buses - though opposing councillors said that was "not enough".
Annabel Baker, Peel L&P’s Associate Director for Development Planning said: “Earlier this year we held a detailed public consultation to help create a masterplan for a new community at Mosley Common in Wigan – a £155m investment for the area with new homes including affordable housing, parklands, improved public transport and around 200 new jobs. The masterplan provides a framework for future development and establishes a commitment to infrastructure and extensive green space.
“It has been developed in line with the emerging Places for Everyone strategy for Greater Manchester and does not seek to pre-empt this process. The specific matters raised by the Scrutiny Committee will be dealt with through a detailed planning application, such as green belt, traffic mitigation and education provision.
“Before any application is submitted there will also be another opportunity for the local community to comment on the proposals.”
The position that the majority of the councillors took was to wait for this ‘masterplan’ to be looked at by the independent inspectors in central government as part of the Places for Everyone scheme – a strategy setting out where 165,000 homes will be built across Greater Manchester.
This would mean a delay to proceedings until PFE is decided for the developers, who broke ground on this project back in 2016.
Explaining why Peel L&P are submitting the masterplan, Ms Barker said: “The masterplan is a requirement of the Places for Everyone policy that was signed off by Wigan Council. It doesn’t seek to pre-empt the Places for Everyone process but supports it by demonstrating that the site can deliver 1,100 homes, in line with Wigan Council’s evidence for the plan.”
The ‘masterplan’ is now back with the portfolio holder for Planning, Transportation and Environmental Services Paul Prescott – who must review the proposal and scruntise it further with the council’s cabinet.
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