A controversial plan to build 400 homes on green belt land in Worsley looks set to move a step closer to approval as the consultation period for ‘modifications’ to Greater Manchester’s housing masterplan closes this week. The submission for the £54million development at Hazelhurst Farm – between the A580 East Lancs Road and the M60 – is now on the Salford city council’s online planning portal. But land and property giant Peel’s application cannot be decided before the outcome of the long-running Places for Everyone plan for nine of Greater Manchester’s districts over next 15 years is finalised. The deadline for amendments to the plan is Wednesday (December 6). Meanwhile, a hybrid planning application has landed with Salford city council planners – validated on November 20 – and is now ‘under consultation’. It is for full permission to build 155 homes on the south-west section of the site with vehicle access from Cartmel Grove and Richmond Drive, with public open space, a children’s play area and ‘enhancements’ to existing footpaths and cycleways. The plans also include an outline application – meaning so far less detailed – for a further 245 homes and a two-form entry primary school with access from Hazelhall Close, also with public open space and a children’s play area, footpaths and cycleways. If plans are eventually approved, the development will be built by Northstone, the housebuilding arm of Peel L&P. The 60-acre site is currently designated for agricultural use and is Green Belt protected. A design and access statement submitted on behalf of Peel includes a school which will occupy five acres of the site, including land for playing fields. Peel also says 33 acres or 56 per cent would be ‘undeveloped land, set aside for public open space, retained woodland, green corridors, playing fields, play areas and land needed for drainage. The statement also says affordable housing is proposed through a mixture of ‘on-site affordable provision’ and ‘financial contributions towards off-site provision’. “All affordable homes will be designed to be tenure blind and will be pepper-potted in small clusters throughout the development to encourage a cohesive integrated community while allowing for effective management of the properties by the registered provider,” it says. “The development will include a broad mix of house types and sizes including apartments, maisonettes, bungalows, medium and large family homes, multi-generational homes and smaller homes suitable for first-time buyers or and those wishing to downsize.”
