New homes plan for ‘drug den’ site

‘The police were constantly being called’

A‘DRUGS den’ is set to be transformed into a housing development.

Councillors unanimously gave the green light at a recent planning meeting to build six ‘much needed’ bungalows on land off Fort Street in Clayton-le-Moors.

Ward representatives told the meeting the longstanding derelict site had become a magnet for antisocial behaviour and drugs use in recent years.

Debra Wolhuis resubmitted her planning application to the council after a previous proposal was rejected by officers on access grounds.

Under the new scheme Fort Street will be upgraded to an ‘adoptable standard’ and £3,312 will be allocated to replace 25 felled trees on the site.

Speaking at the planning meeting, Clayton-leMoors councillor Tim O’Kane welcomed the development, saying: “It’s six houses of the type that we desperately need in the area in a favourable location.

“The land has been dis- used for a good number of decades. It’s an imaginative development. It was a blighted area.

“The police were constantly being called there because it was being used as a drugs den.

“Numerous things have gone on there.

“The trees were just covering up crime in one way.”

Coun Melissa Fisher, who also represents the ward, told the meeting: “I think it’s a positive application in a good location next to the park and near to the schools and local amenities.”

Altham councillor Stephen Button, who lives in Clayton-le-Moors, said: “At the rear they have recently completed the development on Moor Street.

“I would hope this development reflects that standard because it’s a real positive for the area.”

No objections were submitted by residents, highways or environmental health.

Simon Prideaux, chief planning officer at the council, said the previous application was refused because ‘officers were not satisfied with the design of the proposed development’ and said the ‘ key issue was access to the site’.

He told the meeting that the new plans are ‘far more appropriate’.