Hundreds of homes set for approval in West Lancashire

PLANS to build 160 homes in Skelmersdale and Up Holland are set to be approved tonight (Thursday, March 22).

Two applications will go before West Lancashire Borough Council planning committee, the first of which will see 116 houses built on land adjacent to the M58 at Chequer Lane, Up Holland.

The second is for 45 homes on land near Abbeystead at Digmoor, through a mix of semidetached and terraced houses, bungalows and a two-storey apartment block containing four single-bed flats.

Both applications have been submitted by Morris Homes.

Under the present Local Plan, 30% of the homes at Up Holland should be classed as affordable as well as 20% of those at Abbeystead. However, Morris has instead asked for the bids to be considered together, with the plans showing 100% of the Abbeystead homes classed as affordable, and none of those at Up Holland, hitting the overall number for both sites.

Despite oppostion from neighbours and Up Holland Parish Council (UHPC) to the Chequer Lane plan, both are expected to be approved, with a planning officer’s report supporting each application.

UHPC expressed many concerns and questioned much of the information in the application.

Among the issues raised were that Up Holland was being overdeveloped, and that the existing infrastructure may not be able to cope with the rise in demand.