Building 'luxury' homes on green belt is 'wrong', Worsley and Eccles candidate says

Labour's candidate in Worsley and Eccles has said it is "wrong" to use the green belt to build "luxury" homes.

Michael Wheeler, 39, argued that two housing schemes by Peel Land in the area will not include enough affordable properties to help with Salford's housing crisis.

Peel is currently building more than 1,000 new homes on Mosley Common, on the border of Salford and Wigan, with a further 295 homes planned on land east of Boothstown next to RHS Garden Bridgewater.

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Residents in Boothstown recently told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the area can't handle more homes because local services are too stretched - with not enough dentists, doctors, or schools.

Locals also raised concerns over the affordability of the 295 homes planned by Peel, with the majority of these set to have four or five-bedrooms.

The scheme is located on green belt land being released under a Greater Manchester-wide housing programme - Places for Everyone - which Labour-run Salford council was the first in the region to adopt despite Conservative opposition.

But so far more than 1,400 objections have been sent to Salford council over Peel's Boothstown plans.

Mr Wheeler, who grew up in the Worsley and Eccles constituency, said that while new developments are needed to tackle the housing crisis in Salford, they have to be at affordable prices.

He told the LDRS: "We're facing a housing crisis so somewhere there needs to be more housing for people. It's a genuine crisis and it is wrong that the aspirations of homeownership for many young people is just off the table.

"But when you look at these developments in particular, they are not affordable