Detailed plans for a 275-home estate on former green belt land on Bury's outskirts have been unveiled by Wain Estates.
The proposed development site, located near Scobell Street and Church Street in Walshaw village, once housed the local cricket pitch -- but the this area was among the green belt regions allocated for housing development when Bury Council adopted the Places for Everyone (PfE) masterplan, along with eight other boroughs in the region. This marks the first significant planning application for land removed from the green belt by PfE in the borough.
The PfE plan has earmarked the Walshaw area for up to 1,250 homes. The plan sets housebuilding targets for nine out of the ten Greater Manchester councils until 2039, with only Stockport not included.
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A planning application was submitted to the council last week. A design and access statement supporting the plans stated: " The site comprises of 11.3 hectares."
It further described the site as being in a well-connected location within the existing urban area of Bury, with local shops, schools, doctors, dentists and convenience stores just a short walk away along Bury Road towards Tottington.
The overall aim of the masterplan is to create a sustainable and cohesive community that successfully blends with the existing surroundings.
Wain Estates has revealed that the masterplan for the wider site, which includes the existing communities of Tottington, Woolfold, Elton, Lowercroft, and Walshaw, has been endorsed by Bury Council. This endorsement acts as a formal framework guiding development.
However, several objections to the Wain Estates plan have been published on Bury Council's planning portal.
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One critic of the scheme stated: "This will take away from the only green belt area in Tottington and will also increase traffic in a busy area already."
They added, "It is home to wildlife such as deer and where will they go?" and "Schools already cannot cope in the area with the amount of people."
Another objector expressed: "This is a beautiful open green space, prime grazing for stock, and a habitat for a wide range of wildlife including deer, small mammals, and birds. It is visited on a daily basis by walkers and their dogs."
They continued, "In summer it's a glorious space with far reaching views. In winter, areas are prone to flooding but equally beautiful, always a joy to visit. Development of this area will increase flooding around the local roads and homes, and increased traffic on Walshaw Road and Tottington Road.
"These roads are not designed for this amount of use. It's hard to imagine how there can be any improvements to the road structure to accommodate construction vehicles, without making life harder for residents in the area."
The decision on the plans will be made by planners at Bury Council in the coming weeks.