Wigan rejects Persimmon’s 57 homes
A recommendation for approval from the council’s planning officers was not enough to quell councillors’ fears over the impact new residents would have on the area’s infrastructure.
Persimmon had sought planning permission for 57 homes on six acres off Pepper Lane in Standish. The housebuilder’s plans included a mixture of one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom residences. Locals would have the option to purchase the homes prior to them going on general sale.
The homes would be detached, semi-detached, mews, and bungalows. Of the 57 proposed, 15 would be designated affordable – four as first homes, four as intermediate homes, and seven as affordable rent. All would be equipped with EV chargers, solar panels, and air-source heat pumps.
There would also be 1.6 acres of public open space, with more than 100 trees planted across the site.
GP capacity in Standish was raised as one of the issues for the development in Wigan Council’s planning officer report.
Jonathan Kerry, interim deputy place lead for Wigan at NHS Greater Manchester, wrote in his remarks on the application that although the planning application would raise “significant concerns” regarding local service capacity that a levy on the project would help mitigate the impacts of the scheme.
Persimmon was already looking at contributing £284,715 towards local infrastructure – including health facilities – as part of its planning agreement.
Community action group Standish Voice had also campaigned against the Persimmon project stating that “Standish is full and there is no need for further executive housing” in its formal objection. The group also said the project violated the Standish Neighbourhood Plan, would put more pressure on healthcare infrastructure, and that increased traffic would bring more air pollution.
In a tight seven to six vote, councillors sided with Standish Voice, citing a conflict with policies in the neighbourhood plan regarding the provision of infrastructure as its grounds for refusal. In their motion to refuse, councillors also stated that if the development had been approved it would increased the number of homes having planning permission on safeguarded land in Standish to 1,728 – considerably more than the 1,000 homes called for in the local plan.
Persimmon said it was “disappointed” by the committee result.
“As the case officer’s report says, this development will support local housing needs and create a visually attractive modern development,” a spokesperson for the housebuilder said.
“The new Labour government has rightly put housing at the top of their agenda so it’s incredibly disappointing that a Labour council has not taken the opportunity to deliver much-needed new affordable housing for local people.”
Mosaic Town Planning was the planning consultant for the project. The application’s reference number is A/23/96541/MAJOR on Wigan Council’s planning portal.
Take that Labour
By Anonymous
‘Standish is full’! – planning inspector ‘hold my beer’
By Anonymous
@Anonymous; The planning committee is made up of 15, thirteen labour and two independents (Atherton, Tyldesley). One labour and one independent missed the meeting.
By Watcherzero
What a waste of taxpayer’s money. Funding for doctors is via the NHS (from national government) not from developers! Nonsense reasons for refusal.
Clearly this decision will be overturned at appeal so all they are doing is wasting time and money delaying the inevitable. All the while, that’s more households without access to decent homes whilst a vacant, overgrown site sits empty!
By Anonymous
My GP’s full and the traffic is bad where I live , where you live and where anyone lives in the UK. Should we just give up on any housing anywhere and live with with an ageing, inefficient housing stock that’s probably the oldest in Europe and with an increasing population amid changing household formation dynamics.
By Max Homes
That’s 57 new Households missing out on the best Chippy in Wigan 🙁
By Tha'knows
I’m no huge fan of Persimmon but this is a nonsense refusal that will get overturned on appeal. The local nimby group calls them “executive Homes” when these are just normal family homes. what a waste of everyone’s time…and also as very likely Wigan taxpayers money.
By Sceptic
The “lack of infrastructure” objections and refusals by councillors on that point always irk me. In creating development plans local authorities speak to, consult and have to badger care commissioning groups, primary care trusts, hospital trusts etc to get an idea of what capital works will be needed to support the housing figure in the plan (as they do for education, highways, drainage etc). That then leads in to specific infrastructure policies, allocation or designated site specific requirements where development either individually or cumulatively will contribute towards this identified infrastructure, and when apps come.
It’s the usual lunacy from people whose lives will not be materially affected one bit by a scheme.
And then we wonder why it takes 12 months+ for planners to deal with small resi schemes like this.
By JohnMac
The amount they are offering for local infrastructure is laughable, it wouldn’t even cover the most basic elements that the area would need with the extra people
By Anonymous
Have to love people chirping up when they don’t live there or know anything about Standish. Standish has probably had 1000+ homes built in the last 10-15 years and barely any improvements to the roads or facilities. Plenty of homes have been built and I don’t thin anyone wants their once-relaxed village turned in to some concrete congested jungle where every bit of greenery is tarmac’d over… Plenty of NIMBYism going on but Standish seriously is full, and I don’t even live there any more
By Anonymous
By comparison there is a very small percentage of Social Housing in the 3 big estates that have been built, most are £300,000 plus, they ARE executive homes if that’s what you want to call them NOT affordable housing!
By Anonymous
Good some sense at last Standish is full it’s a joke now even trying to cross the road nothing to do with nimby It’s more about bei g practical
By Anonymous
To the individual who says the site sits overgrown and empty…it’s not empty!! There is a family of deer, rabbits and a herring that live there!
We have enough humans now in standish thanks
By Anonymous
You failed to mention the dangerous access to the site, on a road that struggles to cope with the current flows. The neighbourhood plan was voted by the local people with a 95% majority. We can’t cope with any more.
We have 1 doctors surgery that you already have to wait weeks to even get to see someone.
Traffic is a nightmare and if anything happens on the motorway it’s game over.
The other week it took me over an hour to go 1/2 mile to my house just off old pepper Lane. Was so bad we had about 10 abandoned vehicles on our side street abandoned by folk who just gave up. I nearly did the same myself. But I needed my car close by for my sick parent. Who of course struggles to get to see a doctor & gets directed to A&E because of capacity. Sorry 280k ain’t going to touch the sides of the issues here.
By Anonymous
I’m an outsider to Standish (my partner a local).
I thought that the amount of housebuilding around lowton/Golborne had been bad. But my you can tell the housebuilders make a fortune around Standish, hence keeping pushing for more and more. I would love to see the figures of how many extra houses, cars and people this village has had in the last 5 years.
I haven’t bothered to change my doctors to Standish as you have no chance of seeing anyone. I leave 6.30 in a morning and can wait 10 mins to get off our street with the traffic. Dread to see it at 8.30
Why don’t housebuilders try kitt green or norley hall and help regenerate poor areas. That need better housing and investment?
Profit that’s why! Standish is a cash cow.
And they intend to milk the cow till it’s dead.
By Mart
Accessibility in, out, and through Standish needs addressing. A link road around Standish from junction 27 across to Aspull, Horwich, Hindley, across to Mary’s Bridge to eleviate congestion including link from Marsh green onto the M6 Motorway both north and south bound.
By Mark Lythgoe
Makes a change for councillors to listen to the people who put them there,
By Concerned
It is council housing that needs to be built for rent very few working class people have the means to buy a property and prepare to rent . Plus Standish has had enough new properties built in the last few years without a change in the infrastructure of that area .
By MF
Well smoke me a kipper, there’s a comment here that says a herring is living on site amonst the deer and rabbits. Its a wonder its not at the best chippy in Wigan.Perhaps Persimmon can call it Pilchard Place
By A Rimmer
Nooooo more houses in an already overcrowded town. Infrastructure just can’t cope
By Anonymous
Very pleased that this development has been rejected. The access road they plan is a death trap, it will lead to many many accidents along Pepper Lane which will just create more congestion in Standish. The land they are planning to build on is flooded and the devolopers are having problems with the estate were they have already built due to flooding and it’s not even winter yet. All the roads are too busy and blocked at certain times of the day but now for longer than they used to be, the doctors can’t cope with the influx of residents which basically means the infrastructure is not fit for purpose in this “village” any more. Standish is FULL
By local
Have to live the comments complaining about a lack of social housing from people who know 1) no social housing will be built at any scale and 2) would object with even greater strength to social housing construction.
By Bt
Wigan continues to be driven by NIMBYism of the worst kind. The sooner planning gets removed form local Councillors the better, they are clearly conflicted.
By Moody