Plans for £8.5m Saddleworth housing estate with 40 homes rejected after more than 100 objections
manchestereveningnews.co.ukPlans for an £8.5m new housing estate in Saddleworth have been rejected by councillors over fears it would damage protected countryside.
A proposal to build 40 three and four bedroom homes in Lees had garnered 105 objections from residents. Under the plans a bridge would have been constructed over Thornley Brook to provide better access for residents, and an area of wildlife habitation created in the west of the site.
Overall, with other landscaping and tree planting, this represented a ten per cent net gain in biodiversity, planning officers said.
But the site, off Maltby Court, has been designated as being ‘other protected open land’ (OPOL) by the local authority. READ MORE:Rochdale's landmark 'Seven Sisters' flats could yet be saved as council plans to buy back demolition-threatened tower blocks Consequently planning officers had recommended the application be refused on the grounds that it would result in the ‘incremental erosion’ of the OPOL and the benefits of the scheme did not outweigh the harm it would cause.
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