Fight over homes plans for ‘eco fields’
CALLS have been made for planners to go back to the drawing board over a bid to build 35 homes on fields with special ecological value.
Fifty- nine objections have been received for the application by Eccleston Homes, at land to the west of Manchester Road, Ramsbottom – known locally as Edgar’s Fields.
It deals with reserved matters following the granting of outline planning permission in 2016, but it has since emerged that the land has been designated as a Site of Biological Importance ( SBI).
Bury council has confirmed the latest proposal will once again go before their planning committee for a final decision.
Ramsbottom councillor Rob Hodkinson said the redesignation of SBI status by the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU) meant the whole development merited further scrutiny.
Coun Hodkinson said: “The SBI has thrown a spanner in the works for Bury council. It was redesignated after the planners had given outline planning permission.”
The council controversially approved the Florence Nuttall Trust’s outline proposal for the site, between Peel Brow and Bury New Road, back in November 2016 - but that permission would have lapsed after three years.
Coun Hodkinson added: “The major issue at the time was the access on to Bury New Road.”
Objectors to the latest scheme cite ‘destruction of wildlife’, as well as concerns over traffic and access. Highways England has offered no objection, and two people have written in to support it.
David Dutton, ecologist for the GMEU, said: “Following a site visit on July 12, 2016 the GMEU recommended to Bury Council that Edgars Field be reinstated as a Site of Biological Importance as it had been brought back in to positive management following a period of neglect.
“I am not sure of the exact date that Bury Council formally adopted our recommendation.
“This designation it should be noted is not a statutory protection like a Site of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSI), its purpose is to inform the planning authority that the site is of wildlife value which should be weighed against the merits of the development proposal.”
A Bury council spokesperson said: “We’ve received a number of objections to this application, therefore it will go to the planning committee for decision.”
Eccleston Homes Ltd declined to comment.