County Councillor Mark Clifford has issued the following statement in response to the Section 24 allocations within the Central Lancashire Local Plan:
Chorley has built more than its fair share of housing over the years. It now needs its minimum target reallocating elsewhere in the Central Lancashire area and to the wider area of Lancashire.
This Conservative Government needs to drop its minimum target of housing numbers for Chorley and allow residents and their elected members to decide on where genuine housing needs are. Housing that is sustainable and benefits the wider community rather than destroys whole communities.
I have no faith in Michael Gove and Rishi Sunak doing the right thing. As the Lancashire County Councillor for Clayton with Whittle and Chorley Borough Councillor for Clayton West and Cuerden, I give my views on the following sites below which are in the areas I was elected to represent. The sites listed are those that landowners have put forward and as you will see from my views, all are unsuitable.
- CH/HS1.53 West of M61 Town Lane – should be removed from the local plan as the site cannot be accessed safely due to Highway issues on Town Lane and surrounding Roads.
- CH/HS1.54 West of M61 – Land adj to Delph Lane – should be removed from the local plan as the site is at significant risk of contaminating the area if developed due to more than 5000 tonnes of Low-Level Nuclear Waste being deposited in the Carr Lane quarry in the 1950s and 1960s. Dynamic disturbance on this site will likely lead to seepage of radioactive material containing uranium entering the River Lostock and the surrounding atmosphere. The Site is also constrained by unsuitable Highway access that cannot be mitigated.
- CH/HS1.51 Hill Top Farm – should be removed from the local plan due to unsuitable highway access on Hilltop Lane that cannot be mitigated.
- CH/HS1.52 West of M61 Land off Hill Top Lane – should be removed from the local plan due to unsuitable highway access on Hilltop Lane that cannot be mitigated.
- CH/HS1.50 West of M61 Hill Top Farm – should be removed from the local plan as it suffers from highly restricted Highway access through Birchin Lane and Hill Top Lane which cannot be mitigated.
- CH/HS1.26 Land adjoining Cuerden Residential Park, Nell Lane – has planning permission already granted to Redrow to build 115 homes with access from Parkhurst Avenue. But Chorley Council refused permission for Monaco Nell Lane Ltd.’s application, which was subsequently overturned on appeal by the Tory Governments Planning Inspector. Whilst development on this site looks likely to proceed, I will comment that I hope Redrow build these houses using Parkhurst Avenue for access, rather than Monaco Nell Lane Ltd proposal which will destroy the country environment of Nell Lane.
- CH/HS1.25 and CH/EP1.10 Land to the East of Wigan Lane – should be removed from the plan on the grounds of unsuitable highway access from Shady Lane on road safety grounds and the overdevelopment of the wider area.
- CH/HS1.27 Cuerden Lodge – should be removed from the plan as this site is unsuitable for the development of a housing estate. Cuerden Lodge and its tool barn sit right in the heart of Cuerden Valley Park and whilst it may be classed as a Brownfield site it isn’t in the spirit of what is known as a Brownfield Development This site is right in the middle of the green belt will produce a loss of public amenities to the green environment and character of the park and be detrimental to local wildlife and biodiversity.
I ask all residents to make sure they have their say on the consultation by clicking the link below.
https://centrallocalplan.citizenspace.com/planning/part-one-preferred-options-consultation/
