Residents raise concerns over further development plans in Stalmine

They fear the proposals could turn their rural village into a "small town" and create a string of problems in the area.

The latest application is a proposal to build two eighty-bed care homes and up to 50 new houses on land off Stricklands Lane in the village.

It follows an application by Wain Homes to build 84 homes on nearby Carr End Lane and another development by the house builders for 77 homes, which has already been approved.

The latest plans have prompted Stalmine-with-Staynall Residents' Association to put together a detailed objection letter outlining their concerns.

Peter Swarbrick, vice chairman of the Association, said: "We're worried about what seems to be an attempt to turn this village into a small town.

"This is a quiet village with one pub, one church and a part-time post office.

"We believe these plans would together have a detrimental effect on drainage and flooding issues, on education services and on congestion and road safety.

"There are so many homes being proposed that it has prompted Lancashire County Council to indicate that a new school should be built in the village.

"Where would it go and how would that additionally impact on flooding, parking and traffic?

"The Stricklands Lane applicants are proposing to build care home facilities on an industrial scale but there aren't enough people in the village to staff it, so they would have to drive in, adding to the problems.

"Most of the residents would come from outside the village, so their relatives would have to drive in as well.

"The A588 is classed by the Road Safety Foundation as the fourth most dangerous road in the country and the most dangerous in Lancashire - these plans are not going to help.

"All those considerations would need to be addressed before any attempt to go ahead with these plans."

The Association has officially objected to the Stricklands Lane plans on a number of grounds.

These include unsatisfactory proposals for surface and foul water drainage from the site; the detrimental effect on local education services; the inconsistent travel plan provided by the applicant; the negative impact the proposals would have on the local care home market; the lack of consultation with the local community.

The Association states: "A combined 35 new primary places and 15 new secondary places is a lot to ask.

"Do the current developer and the Carr End Lane developer have land to contribute for a new primary school?

"Where could Lancashire County Council build this school and how would it be accessed by road?

"We feel that even more housing developments would split and divide our rural, historically farming community and, therefore, totally oppose any further housing build especially as this

one is outside the Stalmine settlement area."

However, consultants on behalf of VOS Limited have sought to assuage such concerns.

In a traffic statement on behalf of the applicants, SCP Transport statted: "The personal injury accident data for the most recently available five-year period has been reviewed and does not represent a material concern in the context of the proposed development

"The accessibility of the site has been assessed. Overall, the site is considered to be reasonably well located in terms of its accessibility by all the major non-car modes of transport.

"The volume of traffic generated by the proposed residential development, and the cumulative development traffic including that generated by the proposed care home, will not have a material impact on the operation of the local highway network and the effect of the additional traffic will be barely perceptible during the highway peak hours."