PROPOSALS to build 78 new homes in Diggle – designed to be “in keeping with the character of the village”- have taken another step forward.
A full planning application for the £15 million scheme off Huddersfield Road and adjacent to the site of the new Saddleworth School has now been lodged with Oldham Council.
Developers WRT Ltd will provide a “choice of executive and family homes” on the 3.24-hectare site, with associated access, car parking and landscape improvements. The total of new properties will include “eight affordable dwellings”.
Manchester-based P4 Planning – acting on behalf of WRT Ltd – say the land had previously been allocated for employment use but never been brought forward.
However, it has now been identified as a suitable site for residential development in Oldham Council’s Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.
Says Gillian Worden, Associate at P4 Planning: “The planning application for this scheme has been an intricate process and our client has taken great care to ensure the scheme reflects the character of area and is in keeping with the surroundings of Diggle village.
“It will help to support local businesses and services and help the local authority deliver its housing needs for the future.”
P4 say the site is in a “highly sustainable location, close to a number of bus routes as well as several local facilities which would be supported by the new homes.
They add the development will also bring with it a number of benefits for the local community, including a reduction in traffic pinch points on Huddersfield Road at peak times, with two planned access roads into the development.
Apart from the fact that Diggle doesn’t really need anymore new builds – eight affordable homes out of 78 they’re planning to build how generous.
From the plans that I have seen the two access roads will only increase traffic problems and do nothing to ease them ? Eight ‘affordable ‘ homes is a really pathetic number and who will be able to ‘afford’ them. I suppose we shouldn’t expect more from the money greedy builders, the useless planning department, and the cash taking Oldham MBC !!!
On the https://huddersfieldroaddiggle.co.uk/feedback/ website itc states that “All views and comments will be considered before a planning application is submitted.”. Where are the results of the Feedback exercise or were they ignored?
Also, there is the issue that when the school move from Uppermill to Diggle was pushed, a couple of the reasons used were that it would not be safe for children to be around a building site and that if the school wasn’t built on the former pallet works, then housing would be. But now it seems that it IS fine for children to be walking through a building site and housing will be built there anyway, school or no school. All very misleading.
It is a shame that Oldham Council despise Saddleworth so much, they are determined to take out as much of the Green Belt as possible. In 50 years no-one will look back at Diggle or many of the Saddleworth villages and think “thank goodness they were preserved as much as possible for the generations to come to enjoy”, will they?
So much fo providing “affordable housing” . 8 houses out of 78 is pathetic. Oh, and we dont need any more executive houses either. What’s wrong with housing for younger people who want to stay living in the village? It would appear as many of us suspected that the “consultation” was just a formality as the plans were already done.
The same tired old comments to support development, ie affordable housing , ok affordable to whom ?
Reflects the character of the area ummmm NO , Highly sustainable .Really ? Helps to deliver the local authorities housing needs for the future – Give me a break, Meaningless, trite, tripe . As for the land being earmarked for industrial development, ok when was that, possibly when there was some industry, which there no longer is. So surely this is now irrelevant.
One of the ‘access’ roads is the path that the children will be walking to school on. How stupid. While it was inevitable a planning application for houses on these fields would be submitted, the fact that only 8 homes are deemed to be ‘affordable’ says it all about the motives of these developers. With the school site well underway, we’re seeing just how much water drains from the fields into this site. At the moment, these two fields are taking a lot of that excess water. If WRT really want to help Diggle, they’ll keep the fields for drainage to help the school or at the very least greatly reduce the number of homes they plan to build and create large gardens/open spaces for drainage. I think you’d have to be quite mad to buy a house on that swamp.
“In keeping with the character of the village“ – don’t think so, they look far too nice for Diggle, which at best is a scruffy ramshackle collection of featureless architectural styles. These I think would actually improve the village. Get it built!
It would seem that a future description of this lovely Harrop Dale will be \Saddleworth Estate Diggle village no more