Anger at council land sell-off plan
PLANS to sell off parcels of land - including people’s gardens and allotments - for development have angered residents and animal rescuers.
Lancashire County Council (LCC) is set to put the land, which is off Blackwood Road in Stacksteads and used by a local animal charity to release a variety of wildlife, up for auction next month.
Residents fear that they will lose their gardens, which they have leased for decades, and are worried that the area, which recently had a 41-house development approved by Rossendale planners despite congestion concerns, could be targeted for dozens of additional homes.
Michaela Holt, of Rossendale Responsible Animal Rescue (RRAR), said: “I was horrified when I found out about it.
“I get that everybody has got to live somewhere, but it’s a safe release area.
“We release hedgehogs on to that site.
“We are supposed to be preserving wildlife, not taking their homes.
“There’s going to be nowhere left for this wildlife to live.
“The council has never managed this land and, all of a sudden, they have come to sell it off.
“But not even selling it
off as single plots; they’re selling it off as big plots.”
Fellow RRAR volunteer Kristy Geldard, 48, lives on Dove Villas and says a grass bank right in front of her house forms part of the site going under the hammer.
She says an area for sale on Barlow Street is needed by both the residents and emergency services for access, while a turning circle and access road have been maintained by residents “for well over 40 years”.
“The county council took the land in 1987 and they’ve done nothing with the land,” she said.
“We always thought the
road was unadopted.
“Over the years we’ve paid for work towards it, we’ve resurfaced it; the council have done nothing.
“I appreciate that they’ve got to put houses somewhere, but why take people’s gardens?
“It’s a bit of common decency.”
In addition to the 41 bungalows, townhouses and houses approved at the former quarry south of Blackwood Road, Kristy fears up to 60 further homes could lead to an overall increase of 200 cars using a single track road.
Stacksteads councillor
Jackie Oakes, who has raised the matter with LCC chiefs along with MP Jake Berry, said: “It’s obviously disappointing that LCC policy does not take account of the amenity enjoyed by residents for many years, or of the financial position of individual residents to buy the whole piece of land.”
An LCC spokesperson said: “The bulk of this land is low grade agricultural land, however, it also includes garden land held on several garden tenancies.
“Residents will have the opportunity to bid for the garden tenancy land through a combined bid
via the auction process for all the land they collectively occupy.
“The auction will also include the sale of the residential development site and an additional lot combining both the residential development site and the garden tenancies site, with the successful purchasers being the highest bidders on the individual lots or the combined.
“This approach ensures the tenants are given the opportunity to purchase their garden tenancies while also achieving compliance with the county council’s legal obligations to achieve the best value.”