Sean Hornby "Working for the Community": Land between Ascot Rd and the Canal

Since my last blog on this subject on 4th March, the Bolton News have written another article which appeared yesterday, 31st March.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/districtatog/5955099.Howtravellers____site_could_look/

I, together with the other Ward Councillors have received a statement from the owners of the land which I reproduce below.

STATEMENT RE “GREEN BELT LAND MAY BE GYPSY SITE” ARTICLE OF 3RD MARCH 2010

We are the landowners of the disused land off Hall Lane, Little Lever (next to the Canal Basin) and want to now put the record straight in the public and our own interests, having waited in vain for the promised response from the Council but we can wait no longer because the article had many inaccuracies and important omissions.

It is high time the residents of Little Lever knew the full situation, not half truths.

By way of background, we have striven since 1996 to get the Council to see the sense of suitable ways of bringing this self contained, oddball piece of technically greenbelt (but in reality unsightly scrubland) into socially beneficial use, instead of anti-social abuse. (Reference the article of 2nd February 2008 on fly tipping and drug users – although The Anglers Association and ourselves still have to keep cleaning it up). Surely it is crying out for use, as it is a natural infill site that cannot spread.

Yes (the most senior) Officers spoke to us, or rather we put to them (lastly in a meeting in September 2009) about a variety of uses including “housing and gypsy accommodation” but the great unsaid is that our housing proposal was for an affordable ONLY scheme (in a low density parkland setting) to meet the quite shocking ongoing proven shortage in Little Lever village itself (which recent private developments have made no real inroads into) as we know residents/their families don’t want to have to leave such a close knit community to put a roof over their head.

The Council told us they had other sites, but refused to say where! In your article you stated that Mr. Hill’s letter said “that the site on green belt land would make it difficult to allow housing or gypsy accommodation in the area unless the owner could outline any exceptional circumstances”. If affordable housing for Little Lever’s terrible shortage doesn’t meet his ‘test’, we wonder whatever would? (The Council’s own Core Strategy calls for a ‘rolling’ 5 year supply to meet affordable housing needs WHERE IT ARISES).

Thus, the Gypsy/Traveller Option (where Bolton’s need/demand is great as well) was left to pursue by a process of elimination, so pursue it we will. As to recreational uses, a nice thought but operators couldn’t be found, no surprise given the facilities at the Leisure Centre across the Road and at Farnworth (swimming pool),and Middlebrook as well as the Town Centre, not to mention the current economic climate.

Lastly, the Council’s spokesman in the 3rd March article said no Planning Application had been received, true strictly speaking, but omitted to mention that a Pre-Application Meeting (for Gypsy/Traveller use) took place on the 18th December last and the process is ongoing, despite totally unreasonable delays on the part of the Council.

Yours sincerely,

MR & MRS J.P.DONELON

Apparently they also take exception to the following remark made by me in the Bolton News article.

“Housing cannot be built on green belt land and we are being told if that cannot happen, a travellers’ site will be developed instead. We will not be held to ransom in this way."

It's difficult to understand why because, as I read it, that's exactly what the above statement is saying.

Anyway, a 500 signature petition has been raised against the proposal for a Travellers Site on this land which I will be receiving later on today.

Sean