NEARLY 200 people have signed a petition urging the rejection of plans for almost 100 new homes on the Last Drop site.

Locals added their name to their campaign after Jones Homes (North West) lodged an application with Bolton Council to build 98 homes around the Last Drop Village Hotel and Spa in Hospital Road, Bromley Cross.

Concern from neighbours about the ramifications of the extra properties prompted Pauleen Harvie to start a change.org petition called ‘Build no more houses in Bromley Cross until the infrastructure is improved’.

She wrote: “The proposed building of some 98 dwellings at the site of the Last Drop village should not be allowed to go ahead.

“Commuters will realise the impact this will have on an already unacceptable road network.

“Schools are over subscribed and people have difficulty seeking heath services.

“As a whole, the village pays some of the highest council tax rates and very little is paid back into the community.”

She urged people to ensure there was a better outcome than the unsuccessful Stand On The Land campaign against the Barratt Homes estate at Turton Heights in Birtenshaw during the 1980s.

The plans for the Last Drop Village involve developing two parcels of land each side of Haydock Lane, totalling just under 3.5 hectares, to create a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and two-, three- and four-bedroom family houses.

A planning statement for the applicants said: “Traffic flows relatively freely in this area of Bromley Cross. The proposals will not result in severe impacts on the highway network.

“The proposals will result in economic, social and environmental benefits which are not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by any adverse impacts.”

But comments from signatories of the petition mirrored those of Paul Taylor,who said: “Any increase in houses or other development impinges detrimentally on the already overburdened environment, roads, schools and traffic pollution.”