New housing developments in Burnley are 'unsustainable' according to Liberal Democrat councillor and former MP

Liberal Democrat councillor Gordon Birtwistle was speaking to the Express following the last full Burnley Council meeting which saw plans passed for two new housing developments off Rossendale Road.

The Full Council meeting approved two controversial housing estates with 147 new homes after a long fierce debate.The two schemes off Rossendale Road and west of Heckenhurst Avenue in Brownside had been refused by the authority’s development control committee against the advice of planning officers.They had then been referred to Wednesday night’s Full Council meeting on the advice of legal boss Catherine Waudby for final determination because she believed they contravened the authority’s local plan.After a lengthy debate the meeting voted to reverse the development control committee’s decision and approve the estates.The scheme for 111 houses on 12 acres of pasture off Rossendale Road, Burnley, will be developed by Seddon Homes Limited. The plan for 36 new homes on the site of a former reservoir west of Heckenhurst Avenue in Brownside has been proposed by developer Applethwaite Ltd.

Coun. Birtwistle, who voted against the plans despite some of his group supporting them, said: “The problem with all these new houses is there no accompanying infrastructure to sustain them. There are no extra school places being provided and certainly no doctors. Burnley is suffering from a saturation of new houses which is just unsustainable.

“Burnley is full of roadworks everywhere you look at the moment and that is largely due to the new houses being built needing things like internet, gas pipes and the like.”

At the start of the four hour meeting Nicola Dean – a resident of the Brunlea Heights estate next to the Seddon Homes proposal – pleaded with councillors to endorse the development control committee decision on grounds of traffic, road safety and environmental impact including on birds and wildlife.Karl Walker from Seddon Homes told the councillors the proposal was a high-quality development that met the demands of the local plan and which included measures to allay nearby residents concerns.

Green group leader and the authority’s growth boss Coun. Scott Cunliffe said: “The Local Plan is becoming obsolete.” But Labour councillors Gail Barton and Sue Graham supported approving the ‘well-designed’ scheme.

When it came to debating the Heckenhurst Avenue estate Debra Smith, representing Applethwaite, said the project aligned with the local plan and was “well-designed on an allocated housing site”.

Coun. Cunliffe, who had moved rejection at the development control committee, said there was plenty of evidence that the proposed new estate was unsustainable on a variety of grounds including flood risk, highway safety and poor accessibility.

The meeting – which went into private session to debate confidential legal advice – voted to approve both estates after a warning from Ms Waudby that rejection could leave the council with a large costs bill if either or both were successfully appealed.

Later in the meeting councillors voted to abandon the system of referring development control committee decisions deemed contrary to the local plan to full council in favour of referring them back to the committee with detailed legal and financial advice.