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Hundreds of residents oppose homes plan for village

Ollie SamuelsNorth West
News imageBBC Two blonde women stand looking at the camera. The woman on the left is wearing a blue patterned top. The woman on the right has glasses and a dark coloured tshirt with necklace.BBC
Kerry Mawdsley (left) and Lisa Thompson are among those against the plans

More than 300 objections have been made by residents opposed to a planned development of 78 homes on greenbelt land in a Lancashire village.

Lisa Thompson told BBC Radio Lancashire families in Mawdesley were worried about issues including congestion, flooding and a threat to wildlife.

Councillor Alex Hilton, the cabinet member for planning and development at Chorley Council said the proposal would be "considered in accordance with local planning policies" and the "national planning framework".

Developers Applethwaite Homes have been approached for comment.

News imageA banner on a metal fence, that says "Mawdesley says no - help stop 78 houses on Mawdesley Green Belt" with two stop signs as decoration.
Residents have displayed posters in ooposition to the scheme

Among the residents lodging objections in an online portal, Lisa said: "We need houses for the generations coming but we need to put them in the right place."

Another resident, Kerry Mawdsley, agreed it was the wrong location, suggesting an expansion of the existing St Peter's Park development as an alternative.

Kerry said she was also concerned about the impact on wildlife that lives on the fields, and said she has tracked rare birds using an app that can identify them based on their songs.

"You have the songthrush, which is a red-listed bird. We have Red Wings, which come over in winter," she said.

"Owls hunt on there. You get the huge flocks of birds, like goldfinch, dunnocks, robins."

News imageA view of a field through some trees on a sunny day, with the sun visible through some leaves
The plans are to build on fields behind the Millenium Green in Mawdesley

Only two people responded to the council online portal in support of the plans.

The planning statement for the development said the council had a predicted shortfall of 1,105 homes for the five year period 2024-2029.

Although the site is on greenbelt land, the developers believe it could be reclassified under the relatively new 'grey belt' guidelines.

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