Defence Online

Hopes are high that ambitious plans to transform a former factory site into more than 400 houses could finally get off the drawing board.Wigan Council planners have been in talks with developers for months about an agreement to re-develop the former BICC Cables site in Leigh.Proposals have been submitted to build up to 424 new houses on the West Bridgewater Street site, but discussions have been required on how much money will be given to the local area due to the large amount of demolition and preliminary work needed.Developing BICC’s former works has been an ambition at the town hall for several years, but a planning application passed in October 2011 lapsed without work beginning due to the complexity of the operation. Residents’ groups say they are not objecting to the ex-factory site being built on, but they do have concerns about the impact of hundreds more homes and vehicles on the local infrastructure.The latest report prepared for developers says the existing industrial buildings, currently marketed as Bridgewater Business Park, are in poor repair and there is very low demand for them among businesses due to the number of better-quality facilities in the borough. It then suggests the whole 10-hectare site should be used for housing, whereas earlier proposals had suggested mixed uses for the site. Residents’ organisations have expressed reservations about whether the surrounding area can cope with such a large housing estate, and have asked local councillors to put questions to town hall officers.The BICC development will have to go before the planning committee and Wigan Council hopes the application can be heard within around six weeks of the section 106 agreement being signed.