The council has a plan - but it isn’t listening
WHEN challenged by opponents about its decision to hand over green fields for housing developments in Rossendale, local Labour councillors argue: “We’ve got to build them somewhere.”
They are, of course, right.
They have been given a house building target by Government, like every other council in the country.
But the Government isn’t responsible for the Local Plan the council has created to determine what can be built where.
That, again, is the responsibility of the local Labour Party, which runs the council at present.
The argument that fields have to be turned over to build homes only works if the council is actively trying to make sure every other option has been explored.
That should start with so-called brown field sites, ones which have already been used for something else, being developed on wherever possible.
Which is exactly what the planning committee failed to do last week.
A old mill site on the Grane Road near
Haslingden was put forward by developers for 104 new homes.
The site is just yards away from a green field site which Rossendale Council’s planning committee - and for complete transparency, we should say it was really driven by the Labour members of the committee - gave Taylor Wimpey permission to build 130-ish houses just a few months ago.
Not surprisingly, the green field site application was fiercely opposed by local residents, who become the latest group
of residents to feel they are being ignored by the Labour leadership on the council. In contrast, the development of homes on the mill site faced very little local opposition indeed encountered support from nearby residents.
That in itself kills dead another of the defences used by Labour when approving unpopular applications, that residents generally don’t want developments near them.
That isn’t the case here. The planning committee, however, was
aware that the Local Plan had allocated this site for industrial and business use. Of course, we need sites for businesses to move in or expand as well.
But faced with no interest in the site for industrial uses, but a local (well, Chorley) developer offering to help hit Rossendale’s housing target on an eyesore site is surely an excellent alternative?
Various other reasons for refusal were given, including the lack of public space on the site.
Thinking of other recent housing developments in
Rossendale, such as the old Airtours site in Helmshore, where Taylor Wimpey built around 70 homes. Equally, there seems to have been no effort to work with the developer of the Grane Road site to deliver a plan the council would approve. That’s in contrast to Edenfield, where the new ‘Market Street masterplan’ involving over 400 homes on green fields has been published by developers.
It gives a very strong impression that they are already working with the council on their plans, despite fierce opposition.
Perhaps the most telling statement came from
Mike Atherton, the council’s head of planning: “I think considerable weight must be placed on protecting employment land.
“We have more than enough land to meet a five-year housing supply, which has been independently verified.”
That there is widespread opposition to homes on green field sites appears to make no difference. The council has a plan. It isn’t listening - again.