11-02-2025
Fears hundreds of new homes on farmland will make 'horrendous' traffic problems worse
Residents among the hundreds who turned up to view proposals for a development of 550 houses on farmland in Atherton have voiced repeated concerns over choked-up local roads and an absence of schools places and doctors surgeries. Such fears are currently a common theme among opponents of large developments in the Wigan borough.
Landowner the Lilford Estate wants to build the development on a 51.5-acre site south of Bolton Road in an area known as Shakerley. A five-hour public consultation meeting took place at Atherton and Tyldesley Botanica Gardens, near to the site.
As well as neighbouring residents, members of the community group ASPECT (Atherton South Ecological Community Team) were also on hand to answer questions. Also in attendance were several local councillors, including Couns James Fish, Paul Watson and Jess Eastoe.
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Barbara Constantine is the 71-year-old chair of ASPECT and explained that the group had taken a 'neutral and pragmatic' approach to engaging with developers after eventually losing a battle to prevent development in the south of Atherton in 2013 at the public inquiry stage. The public exhibition was a prelude to an outline planning application for the housing by Lilford.
It means more detailed plans will be tabled as 'reserved matters', if the proposal is approved by Wigan council's planning committee. A leaflet circulated by ASPECT at the meeting said: 'Be in no doubt, this development has already been given an informal green light by Wigan council to meet its housing needs.
'It has been on the cards since it was included in the Wigan Borough Core Strategy more than a decade ago.' But Barbara said that this does not mean that local residents have no input to put forward ideas that might improve the site before the outline planning application is submitted formally to Wigan council.
Coun James Fish told the Local Democracy Reporting Service following the meeting: 'I didn't speak to one person who attended the meeting who is not against it. It's the usual problem of over congestion and a total lack of an adequate infrastructure to cope with the influx of new residents.'
Vinny Smith, 67, who lives on Peel Lane said: 'It's a joke. My wife works at the Royal Bolton Hospital and she starts work at 8am. In order to get there on time from here, which is only a few miles away, she has to set off at 6.45am.
'She finishes at 5pm and it takes 45 minutes for her to get home. There just isn't the road infrastructure to cope with the extra residents.
John Patrick, of Douglas Park, said: 'The traffic around here is horrendous. If there are 550 houses, there are likely to be an extra 1,500 cars at least. So the traffic problems will get even worse.'
Sian Carradus, 42, said her home in Crawford Avenue, overlooks the site and is concerned about her back garden disappearing because mining subsidence and flooding. She also presented images taken from her home of recent flooding events.
Local resident Phil Mills said: 'The absence of school places is going to be big issue. The schools around here are already full. Are they going to build a new school?'
'We've lived there for 20 years,' she said. 'The land has changed so much because of the weather. Wildlife in the area will also be affected massively because of the growth of traffic and there are major fears over flooding.
'The area is covered with old mineshafts. I don't know how they're going to build on that land. I am very worried about losing my back garden because the land is slipping away.'
Judy Westerdale, 55, was also worried about the loss of greenery and the extra traffic. 'They talk about progress, but I don't think that necessarily results in improvements.'
The land at Shakerley has been set aside by Wigan council for residential development and identified in Greater Manchester's strategic development plan, Places for Everyone (PfE).
A Lilford Estate spokesperson said that it had a 'longstanding legacy with Atherton'. "This includes the provision of parks and open spaces within the town utilising land within the estate's ownership," they said. "We remain committed to delivering sustainable development in Atherton and achieving Lord Lilford's objective of a lasting legacy for residents."
They said that the company distributed more than 1,300 invitations by leaflet to the public exhibition event and said it was 'well attended'. "We heard a variety of views on a range of relevant issues," they said. "We recognise and welcome that the local community wishes to engage and feel that this is an important part of the planning process.
"Our planning application will be supported by a comprehensive body of technical evidence covering the issues that have been raised. Through the planning process, this evidence and the views of the community will be fully considered by Wigan council in determining whether the proposal should receive planning permission."
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