Ormskirk residents give their views on the West Lancashire Council Local Plan

Jan 26 2012 by Michael Byrne, Ormskirk Advertiser

ORMSKIRK and Burscough residents have expressed their concerns over proposals to build hundreds of houses.

About 50 people attended the consultation forum on West Lancashire Council’s Local Plan at Ormskirk Civic Hall on Tuesday night.

Large areas of employment land have been proposed in the scheme and it includes provision for 4,650 new homes by 2027.

Proposals include building 500 homes on Yew Tree Farm in Burscough and 250 for the Grove Farm site in Ormskirk.

One resident was concerned about the effect building the homes on Grove Farm would have on infrastructure such as sewers and drainage.

Other residents said there were similar problems on other roads in Ormskirk.

A council officer said new homes in the plan would be put in Skelmersdale over the first eight years. This was to give time to solve the infrastructure problems in Ormskirk and Burscough.

Many were concerned about the extra traffic being created by the new housing.

Some felt it would be better to have smaller developments spread around the borough to lessen the effects on roads and infrastructure.

In one of the groups, they were told Highways experts believed the current road infrastructure could cope with the extra demand. Concerns were also raised over the amount of student housing in Ormskirk.

Steve Benge, planning officer, said clauses would be put in the plan to stop housing built under it being used for students. The plan would give the council powers to limit the number of HMOs in Ormskirk. One resident said they wouldn’t mind the university expanding into Green Belt land if it helped solve housing problems in Ormskirk.

Other concerns included whether some of the proposed developments would be big enough to include affordable housing. An additional forum open to anyone in the borough will be held on Friday, February 3 from 2 to 4pm at the council offices at 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk. Booking is essential and places can be booked by calling 01696 585171.

Another vote showed that 45.7% of people supported development at the Yew Tree Farm site in Burscough.

Some complained it was unfair to ask this question in Ormskirk. Ian Gill, deputy borough planner, said there had been a similar result at the Burscough forum. He added that the council realised that the forums may not be totally representative of those living in the local area.