Wigan picks major housebuilder for 59-acre opportunity
Persimmon Homes is to acquire Westwood Park, a strategic development priority for the council located south of the town centre and earmarked for hundreds of homes.
Wigan Council began marketing the site of the former Westwood power station for sale in 2025 and has now signed an exclusivity agreement with listed housebuilder Persimmon.
The developer is working up plans for 450 homes across two parcels totalling 59 acres.
Councillor Dane Anderton, portfolio holder for regeneration and economic development, said: “Westwood Park is a major opportunity to transform the site of a former power station to deliver the homes, jobs, and investment our borough needs.
“Our focus is on good growth: growth that creates opportunity for residents, delivers skilled jobs and affordable homes, strengthens communities and safeguards the green spaces people value most.”
He added: “Westwood Park reflects this approach in action, bringing new investment into a major brownfield site, meeting local housing and employment needs, whilst also creating new wildlife habitats and reducing pressure on greenfield land elsewhere in the borough.”
Ian Hilliker, managing director for Persimmon Homes North West, said: “This represents a fantastic opportunity to transform a prominent brownfield site into a thriving new community, delivering high-quality homes in a great location close to Wigan town centre.
“We share the Council’s ambition for Westwood Park and look forward to working collaboratively with stakeholders to bring forward proposals that create long-term social and economic benefits for local people.”
The power station that once stood on what is now known as Westwood Park ceased operating in 1986 and the site has long been earmarked for redevelopment by the council. It is served by the A49 link road, which opened in 2020.
Located a mile south-east of Wigan town centre and close to Junctions 25 and 26 of the M6, Westwood Park is seen as any opportunity to deliver both homes and employment space.
Outline planning permission for the redevelopment of the site into a mixed-use scheme was granted in 2015 but has since expired.
As well as hundreds of homes, that proposal earmarked 12 acres of the wider site for employment uses and also featured a local centre and a visitor centre for Wigan Flashes, an area of biological interest.
Graham Bartlett, director at Parkinson Real Estate, the agents that advised Wigan Council and minority landowner Greenbank Partnerships on the sale, said: “I am delighted that Persimmon Homes North West have committed to deliver such an exciting scheme in such a significant site for the Wigan and we look forward to working with them.”
