Greater Manchester Spatial Framework

Today, I have launched a campaign calling for the retention of greenbelt status on land identified in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) as suitable for ‘industry and warehousing’.

The land in question is located at Junction 25 of the M6 motorway in the wards of Bryn and Winstanley.

I led a campaign with the support of residents to retain the current greenbelt status of the land in the early part of the current decade when the then emerging Wigan Council Core Strategy sought to remove greenbelt status. A Government Independent Inspector in early 2013 confirmed that the site would remain in greenbelt up to 2026. Wigan Council adopted the amended Core Strategy later that year.

Residents are invited to attend a public meeting on Tuesday, 15th November at St Aidan’s Social Centre, Winstanley commencing at 7pm. 

The GMSF identifies the potential for Wigan to provide over 1.2million sq metres of ‘industrial and warehousing’ floorspace as part of a 8.1million sq metres indicative capacity for the Greater Manchester region.

This proposal will give rise to the loss of open space and urban sprawl that will see Winstanley, Goose Green and Ashton/Bryn merge together.

Brown field sites should be prioritised for development and we need a GMSF plan which reflects this.

There is no doubt that residents living in the vicinity of the site will shudder at the thought of huge warehouses with HGVs clogging up an already busy A49 corridor that struggles to cope with current traffic loads and the impact on air quality.

I am not prepared to see the communities I represent subjected to this proposal and I am calling on residents to join me in the fight to protect our greenbelt.