Wednesday 8 January 2014

Planning Committee on Golf Course planning application

So last year Morris Homes and Persimmon Homes put in an outline planning permission to build on the former golf course on Rectory Lane. Because the Council took it's time over the Core Strategy saga the developers put in appeal to get the planning inspector to look at their planning application as the Council hadn't looked at it within the time frame that they should.

The appeal was scheduled for next week and the Council's planning committee held a special meeting to decide to vote on the proposal. Now correct me if I am wrong this is the same Council that said that they didn't want houses to be built here. This is the same Council that said that it was the Government making them do this. Yet it was a Labour Cllr, John Hilton, who said and I quote, "This is a good development." He also said that he and another Labour Cllr had worked with this developer in the past. My first point is he should not have been in the planning committee on this item as he clearly was prejudiced in my view and should have left the meeting. Instead he PROPOSED to accept the planning application. Disgrace, pure and simple!
When this application was first mooted the Council said that they would not allow an access at the bottom of Grove Lane. Yet again the Council have allowed this. This will now make a rat run for people to miss the cross roads out. Council's comment on this is that they will stop this if this happens. If it is that easy why haven't they stopped the rat run on Robin Hill and other estates? They haven't got a clue!

All that Wigan Council are interested in in Standish is Money! They get £5000 per house, which they do not charge developers in other areas of Wigan, so I am told. This just demonstrates the greed from the Council with regards getting money out of Standish.

Finally, the Council said to us that even though the Council had adopted the Core Strategy should the Traffic Survey come back with the fact that traffic cannot cope then that could stop house building in Standish. Sure as eggs are eggs the report said Standish cannot cope with this level of development but yet the Council has not stopped the development and application today.

In summing up the Council have lied to the people of Standish. They have spun a yarn and tried to blame the government yet here we have a Labour Cllr in a planning meeting saying that they had worked with this developer and they think it is a "good development" and then propose it to go through. I will be reporting this Cllr to the Standards Committee as this is clearly a breach of the code as he should have declared an interest, which I guess he did and then not take part of the discussion nor the vote! I think this also demonstrates that shear fact that Labour do not represent the local community but themselves.


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