PLANS to build five homes on a section of land near to where leisure narrowboats are moored in Leigh's Bridgewater Canal Conservation have been refused.
The Joseph Unsworth Trust wanted to build two-storey, two-bed houses and three-bedroom three-storey houses on a fifth-of-an-acre of land adjacent to Platt Croft in Leigh.
Notice of the refusal has been posted on Wigan Council’s planning portal after seven objections to the scheme submitted by nearby residents.
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The site would have been accessed through Hooten Lane to the south via an unadopted concrete section of road beyond the adopted part at the end of Hooten Lane.
Objectors cited the loss of mature trees and green space and the impact on wildlife or habitat as well as a potential flood risk.
The residents also feared additional traffic, parking issues and insufficient access to the site.
There were also concerns regarding overlooking, overshadowing, and the loss or privacy for nearby properties.
Wigan Council’s decision notice said: “The proposed development is of an inappropriate design and layout and does not preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the conservation area.”
It said the proposal was contrary to the policies of the Wigan Local Plan Core Strategy, the Places for Everyone (PfE) plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.
“The proposals fails to adequately mitigate the loss of trees at the site, having regard to PfE,” it said. “They also fail to provide an acceptable net gain in biodiversity.”
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