Glenbrook wins £100m Wigan industrial appeal
The Planning Inspectorate sided with the developer, dismissing concerns over traffic congestion and Green Belt status to grant outline permission for the 625,000 sq ft Meridian 6 employment park off Bolton Road.
Meridian 6 has a gross development value of £100m, according to developer Glenbrook, updated from the £70m figure reported during the planning process. Set on 40 acres of land, including some in Green Belt, the industrial development was to comprise 12 units designed by Aew Architects. Meridian 6 is to be built southeast of Lancashire Industrial Estate in Ashton-in-Makerfield, on land that is allocated for employment in Wigan’s unitary development plan.
“We are thrilled to receive the positive appeal decision from The Planning Inspectorate,” said Glenbrook development manager Dan Symonds.
“Wigan has a clear pressing need for employment space, and delivery of this long-standing allocated site will go some way in satisfying that demand,” he continued.
Wigan Council rejected Glenbrook’s application last April after receiving more than 430 letters of objection. Community campaign group Keep Ashton Green had helped lead the opposition to the scheme and was one of the interested parties at the inquiry.
A negative impact on the local highway network, in particular traffic congestion, was cited as the reason for refusal. However, planning inspector John Longmuir, said he found the suggested worst-case scenario delay of 2 minutes and 22 seconds at peak travel times to not be significant, describing it instead as a “nuisance and annoyance”.
Keep Ashton Green had also raised the issue of pedestrian safety, which Longmuir similarly dismissed, saying there was no demonstrable evidence that the scheme would negatively impact pedestrian crossings.
Despite it not being a reason for refusal, Longmuir did also look at the impact the project would have on the Green Belt. He did acknowledge that it would harm the Green Belt, but ultimately decided that the project’s benefits outweighed this harm. He described the project as “important for the economic prosperity of the area” and noted that it would support the community by creating jobs close by and therefore reducing reliance on cars.
Regarding the inspector’s decision, Wigan Council assistant director of planning and regeneration David Proctor said: “We are grateful to the inspector for their careful consideration of this appeal, including the concerns that had been raised by local residents. We will be engaging with Glenbrook in the near future as regards next steps.”
Gerald Eve is the planning consultant for Meridian 6. SGi is the civil and structural engineer.
Meridian 6’s planning application reference number with Wigan Council is A/21/92036/OUTMAJ. The appeal’s reference number with the Planning Inspectorate is APP/V4250/W/22/3307710.
Officers originally recommended this for approval over a year ago, what a waste of public and private money from the planning committee, it was always going to get over turned!! Get on and get it build and get employment in the area.
By OPanningG
Well done, Glenbrook. We can’t afford to be turning down jobs and investment of this scale and quality.
By Sceptical
With stagnation on the horizon maybe the restrictions need to come off from development of greenfield and greenbelt land. I do think that councils need to take on more of a delivery role and thereby incorporate the profits into council coffers. There should be considerable s106 receipts from the uplift in land values from greenfield/greenbelt to industrial/com/residential. The other positive effect of this would be to bring down industrial/commercial and residential rents which would bring about a boost to local entrepreneurship. We need a huge influx of infrastructure and construction spending to allow room for growth and to increase the proportion of the working age population so they can support the increasing elderly population. The alternative is to start shrinking the population…but that would just make the aforementioned issue worse.
By Anon
I was at the committee for this, attending for a different matter.
The jobs being provided by this will sit alongside many other unfilled logistics and warehouse jobs at the local recruitment office. The area doesn’t suffer with employment. Still the refusal for greenbelt was based on just the access road being through greenbelt, which could have been mitigated.
Seems like planning committees have no power ruling on large developments as they always get passed on appeal, so why bother going through them anyway?
By GB Guy
GB Guy – it wasn’t refused for green belt. Was a minor point. The main point was significant harm to the highways which is a subjective point and a great way to waste the public purse; you can’t ever be blamed for getting this wrong. Allegedly. Allocated site for 25 years – the muppets at Wigan need holding to account for wasting money. Criminal.
By Not GB Guy
Response to GB Guy – most of the jobs around this area are manufacturing/ processing jobs, not 3PL, seems like a very narrow view of opportunities for the local / regional employment market!
By Come on Wigan
I don’t object to the building of the warehouses as such, Ashton needs the employment, but the entrance and exit road to these buildings will cause absolute traffic chaos in Ashton town centre. The only route to the M6 motorway is through Ashton itself already overloaded with HGV’s causing air pollution, noise nuisance and road damage.
This development should be at least linked to Lockett Road to give traffic an alternative route to the M6.
Has anyone ever monitored the number of HGV’s passing through Ashton town centre, I suspect not !
By Bigal
Low skill jobs being created is the problem. This does not move the dial on Wigan’s GDP. No issue with the loss of green fields if it was fit better quality jobs. Hope the developer can find occupiers who pay more than the living wage!
By Wigan Man