Aerial overlay showing Glenbrook's plans for Meridian 6 Wigan. Credit: via planning documents

Appeal set for £70m Wigan industrial refusal

Developer Glenbrook will argue its case in front of the Planning Inspectorate on 31 January 2023, aiming to overturn the local authority’s rejection of its Meridian 6 Wigan application.

If it had been approved Meridian 6 would have represented an investment of £70m and had the potential to create 1,200 jobs.

Designed by Aew Architects, Meridian 6 was to comprise 625,000 sq ft of logistics space spread out across 12 units. The complex would have sat on 40 acres of land, including some Green Belt. Meridian 6 would have been situated southeast of Lancashire Industrial Estate in Ashton-in-Makerfield.

Wigan Council had rejected the outline application for the scheme at its April planning committee meeting. The decision was made contrary to the recommendation of planning officers, who had tipped the application for approval.

Meridian 6 had been the subject of a dedicated opposition campaign, with the council receiving more than 430 letters of objection to the project. Among those in opposition to the development was Cllr Danny Fletcher, who was part of the Keep Ashton Green campaign group.

In its refusal letter, Wigan Council said the refusal was not due to the partial development of Green Belt, but was centred on inadequate impact on the local road network.

The council said that the development would “give rise to severe residual cumulative impacts on, and harm to, the operation of the local road network”, despite mitigation measures that had been proposed in the application.

Dan Symonds, development manager at Glenbrook, said the company was committed to Meridian 6. He said Glenbrook was of the view that there were no material considerations to justify the application’s refusal.

“We worked collaboratively with the council planning team during the pre-application stages, resolving all matters prior to the April committee meeting, and were surprised at the refusal decision,” Symonds said.

“With an initial investment of £70 million, the proposed development of Meridian 6 has the potential to provide significant socio-economic benefits to Wigan, including the creation of circa 1,200 new jobs and we look forward to presenting our case to the planning inspector in due course.”

A Wigan Council spokesperson said: “We have received notification of the appeal submitted by Glenbrook, and our team is preparing for the public inquiry which will take place in January.”

Gerald Eve is the planning consultant for Meridian 6. The civil and structural engineer is SGi Consulting Engineers.

Meridian 6’s planning application reference number with Wigan Council is A/21/92036/OUTMAJ. The appeal’s reference number with the Planning Inspectorate is  APP/V4250/W/22/3307710.

Your Comments

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This should never have been refused. We need jobs and employment in Wigan. The traffic should be a secondary consideration. Nimbyism at its worse! I live in Ashton and the younger people need this and need jobs!

By AIW

Badly needed as so little employment land in Wigan.

By Badly Drawn Boyo

This was always a flawed decision. The site is an allocated employment site and the reason for refusal is vague and undefendable. I fear this will be another instance of a massive waste of officer time and probable costs against the council.

By Planner

Bolton road is already cloged up with heavy goods vehicle’s. It is almost impossible to cross at the best of times. During the day the paving is being used as a wagon park close to tesco and sandwich shops. People often have to walk into the road to get round the wagons. One more individual estate will only cause more problems

By William Harrison

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