Housing appeal allowed in Standish

Morris Homes and Persimmon Homes have won an appeal allowing for the development of 250 houses near Rectory Lane in Standish, Wigan.

The application is for phase two of a 500-home scheme. Phase one, which includes 250-units alongside leisure facilities to replace a disused golf course, was approved in January. The second phase will sit alongside the first site and use the same access points.

Wigan Council rejected the scheme in July 2014, on the grounds that the area already had enough homes and that granting additional permissions would slow delivery on sites already approved in Standish.

It withdrew its opposition on highways grounds at the start of the inquiry.

During the appeal, a Government planning inspector found no evidence that additional delivery in Standish would impact on delivery in the East West Core where over 80% of development would still be located.

The council has a housing land supply no greater than 3.7-years, compared with the five-year supply required by the National Planning Policy Framework. The inspector agreed that the appeal site would make a significant contribution to delivery in the first five years, together with a simultaneous appeal site by Jones Homes.

Mosaic Planning represented Morris and Persimmon.

Paul Williams, director of Mosaic, said: “We focused on actual delivery of housing in Wigan which has been less than half of that required. Brownfield sites have repeatedly failed to deliver at the rates forecast by the Council and a choice of sites is required to meet the borough’s housing needs.”

Your Comments

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You fail to state that the applications breach the council’s Core Strategy. A planning inspector directed Wigan Council to agree “approximately 1,000” homes in Standish. This decision takes the amount of housing to 1,600 and leaves local people with even less trust of the planning process.

By Paul Ogden

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