Countryside eyes start on first phase of North Leigh Park

The detailed application for the first 199 homes in Countryside’s 1,700-home North Leigh Park masterplan is set for approval by Wigan Council next week.

The 178-acre site has outline permission for the houses, granted in 2013, with the housebuilder now delivering reserved matters applications for the first phases.

Up for discussion at Wigan Council’s planning committee next Tuesday, this application represents phase 1a of the overall development plan and will take up 14 acres. The council is part-owner of the site.

The homes brought forward are set to be a mix of tenures, including open market housing, affordable housing, both rented and shared ownership, and private rent. A spine road will be delivered from Nel Pan Lane, to service the homes.

The site, to the south east of Wigan, comprises mostly vacant land and is bordered by two main roads, the A577 to the north and A578 to the west with Westleigh High School to the south east of the site.

Countryside acquired the site in a process run by CBRE in 2018. The site had been promoted by North Leigh Park Group, part of Guernsey-based Long Port Properties, but Long Port put the business into administration in December 2016.

As part of the project, Countryside will also invest approximately £1m in a section of the planned new link road between junction 26 of the M6 and junction 5 of the M61. The housebuilder has said that its current intention is to build out around 1,700 homes, although the planning consent allows for up to 1,800.

According to documents submitted to the planning committee, Countryside is “now committed to taking forward development at this strategic site”.