You will see from page 7 of the Your Borough section of Borough Life that Stubshaw Cross has been designated to provide jobs on the majority of the land marked in purple and a replacement High school as part of the Schools for the Future programme.
On the issue of industrial development my view has not changed since I wholeheartedly supported the MAD campaign which was successful in stopping a proposed development of warehousing in the area.
On the issue of a new school I have publicly backed the plan supported by Ian McCartney and local Headteachers to site any new school in the middle of Ashton as a part of the regeneration of the town centre and to make it accessible to all members of the community not just pupils 11-16. I am not convinced that siting a school in Stubshaw Cross fits this criterion. Please let me know what you think.
This document is subject to consultation and you have until the 4th August to make your opinions known. For further details of how to let the Council know your opinions see page 8 of Borough Life - Your Borough.
10 comments:
Nigel, I am a little confused, if the developement was shelved because it was deemed unworkable, how come the planning dept still want to go ahead and hold onto the area in question? Why havent they looked at an alternatives? I think that what Wigan & the community groups who have been involved have done with the Three Sisters and the Bamfurlong site is fantastic and it should think very carefully before they ruin it. We need more spaces like this not less. I speak to people in that area when I am walking and they come from as far as Wigan.
Nigel your support for the community of Stubshaw Cross against the proposed High School is most welcome and I hope both you and Ian will play a prominent part in organising the campaign of protest which is about to start.
I have always said I will vote for any person who will fight for our community so who knows come next May....? Ray Davies..
Whilst I understand that sometimes very difficult decisions have to be made in order to get the right workable solution to a problem, I do not agree with green open spaces being used for development when it 'may' only make things better. Peoples lives in the Township are blighted with traffic problems caused by planning decisions made over these past few years, and now as someone else mentioned on a local site, when Wigan have finally got something good for the town, namely the beautiful walks around Stubshaw Cross area, we are planning to drive a road through it. You know Nigel that once they get access to those fields they will keep on enchroaching on other pieces of land. You only have to walk through the Lockett Road site to see the filthy condition that it is in. Litter is everywhere. It is just a huge parking lot for HGV's why would we want to attract more of them? I bet that it costs us more in the upkeep of our roads, (I see that the road has collapsed in Ashton at the Kings Arms due to the weight of traffic trying to squeeze around that corner, and I notice that at the side of Anns house on Bolton Road the same thing is happening) How many actual jobs are going to be 'created' on this new site. We only have to look at the Wigan Westwood site to see how many 'new' jobs have been 'created there!! I agree with the other posting my vote will be for the councillor who fights for his constituents. Wigan should stop hiding behind this promise of future jobs, when in effect all we end up with are empty buildings, or units that just house WMBC
Well said Nigel - I know you are a Labour Councillor so it is good to see you departing from the party line to support your local community.
Keep up the good work and pass on my thanks to Ian McCartney. You can't let them get away with it again!
Nigel, I have waited patiently for a reply to questions put over the past few days and really would like to know the following information; given that that our local councillor (yourself up to now) and local MP had not backed this 'scheme' for a titan school to be situated in Stubshaw Cross why would the planning dept at least not have taken your views into consideration? Can you please explain how much weight a councillor (of any persuasion, and an MP holds within WMBC?)
First of all I would point our that this is a consultative document not the final plan. The plan is to decide the future development of Wigan up to the year 2026. My views (as expressed earlier in this blog) will be put very clearly before the deadline of August this year together with everybody else who takes part in this consultation. We will then see, when the next stage of the consultation takes place in summer 2010, how much notice has been taken of my views.
It is also worth mentioning that there will a lot of contrary views to mine put very strongly during this consultation process.
From Wigan Council's point of view they are obliged to create jobs within the Borough and this area has been earmarked for development under the old UDP plan. The last development was stopped because of a well run campaign against it and the fact that the development would have created extra traffic problems for Ashton town centre But the fact that this area was designated for development never went away.
As for what influence a Councillor can have with Wigan Council I would put it this way. What would Wigan Council do if all three Ashton Councillors (or six if you count the Bryn Councillors)favoured this development? Councillors should be there to represent to the Council local residents' point of view. But that is not at all easy.
As far as I am aware there is no concensus with my fellow ward Councillors regarding this development. I have heard one Councillor supporting the road building scheme which would open up that area to development.
Perhaps this differing of opinion among councillors also represents the opinion of local residents.
As you probably know the Township Forum will receive a presentation regarding the LDF plan next Monday night. It will be interesting to hear the views of the various groups at this meeting. All representatives of local groups will be encouraged to consult their members and submit their ideas to the Council.
I would welcome more comment on this issue.
Nigel. Will this presentation be made by Martin Kimber`s Dept.? If so why doesn`t he organise an open public meeting with the people that matter and then he will see for himself in no uncertain terms just what we think of this crazy idea? I, and many other people, do not trust anybody on the Ashton Forum to represent our views with any passion or conviction.Ray Davies.
By the way,Nigel, keep practising, you never know, you too might become famous one day......
Do you mean practising as a golfer or a Councillor?
i would like to request traffic calming measures on windsor road due the fact motorist use the road as a 'rat run' to avoid the town centre of ashton. The cars speed down this road with no regard whatsoever for pedestrians or cyclists. i take my 7 mth old baby into ashton now and again but am always having to watch out for the wanner be Lewis Hamilton's out there. Sooner or later there will be a fatality on this road due to a speeding motorist so we need speed bumps etc to sort this problem now.
Nigel, I am a little disturbed as to why all six councillors have not met to discuss their views and that of their residents on such a big scheme, why has this 'stalemate' been allowed to continue? & of course we are all going to have a different opinion of this scheme (including the Stubshaw Cross proposal) but unless the elecorate is given all the information, and I mean ALL then how are we to make a decision. To be honest it is as clear as mud to me at the moment what exactly is being put forward. I can see a wish list being proposed but how is it all to be financed?
Post a Comment