Setback for controversial 'masterplan' for 1,100 home neighbourhood on the green belt

Plans for 1,100 houses at Mosley Common took a blow after objectors successfully beat back the proposals. Councillor Stuart Gerrard, who urged Wigan Council to reconsider their approval decision, was backed in his bid to see the plans undergo further scrutiny.

The Confident Places Scrutiny Committee decided to send the ‘masterplan’ - which hoped to see a new community built on the border of Wigan and Salford - back to the cabinet. This means that the ‘masterplan’ put forward by developers Peel L&P will have to be reviewed once again to address points raised by the committee.

Coun Gerrard stated that overburdened roads, lack of access to healthcare providers and schools, poor transport facilities, lack of consultation and loss of green belt land were the primary sources of concern for residents.

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“Peel have a track record of peeling back the green belt, and that is why I think they are called Peel,” he told Wigan Town Hall council chamber. “This area just cannot cope.

“There are going to be many going out of the area for school. There is nothing for secondary schools in the plan.

“They say that will be in the planning stage but we need this to be in the plan now so that the money is there to invest into our secondary schools straight away.”

The councillor went on to mention how residents are struggling to get places with GP surgeries and dentists as the waiting lists continue to grow. The position that the majority of the councillors took was to wait for the ‘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