Controversial plans to build on the former St George’s playing fields in Walkden have been revived, after developer Bellway Homes re-submitted its application for more than 200 homes on the land of Hilton Lane.

The developer is also appealing the planning committee’s decision to reject the proposal in July,  and has asked for it to be dealt with through a public inquiry.

It is seeking awards of costs against Salford Council, saying the panel ‘acted unreasonably’ when it refused the application ‘without evidence and against the advice of officers’ who had recommended the development was approved.

After a long process which saw the application deferred twice, councillors voted down the plans in July over traffic congestion and road safety fears.

Residents told councillors that they already spend hours queuing at the junction, while one local said he worries for his child when she walks along Hilton Lane.

In its re-submission sent to the council in August, Bellway says it has made changes to the plans to reflect concerns.

These include ‘traffic calming measures,’ the creation of a ‘wildlife corridor’ and’ wiring to allow easy installation of electric charging points. It has also promised to re-negotiate its 106 payments, previously nearly £1.5m for local projects. 

Bellway says there was no reasonable justification for the planning committee to reject its application.

In papers sent to the publication, it writes: “The application should be approved without delay for the following reasons: The proposal accords with planning policy; the proposal constitutes sustainable development; the playing pitch is disused, underutilised and not required.”

If approved this time, there would be 209 homes built on the site – a mix of three and four bedroom family homes, 20 per cent affordable housing. Bellway argues that the site has been empty for over 20 years and it is allocated for housing in the town hall’s own revised draft local plan. It also confirmed it would be appealing the decision. It added: “Bellway has requested the appeal to be heard through a public inquiry and will be submitting an application for awards of costs against [the council] who has acted unreasonably in refusing the application without evidence and against the advice of officers.”

“This application is submitted to re-open a positive dialogue with [the council] to give officers and members the opportunity to work positively and proactively with Bellway and allow the draft allocation to come forward, rather than result in a costly appeal and further delays to sustainable development,” they added.

But councillors and residents told the LDRS that they’re unhappy to see the application back before the planning committee.

Laura Edwards, one of the Walkden councillors who opposed the development, said that the re-submission was ‘brazen’ and ‘disregarded the views of the people of Walkden’.

She said: “It is an insult to local residents, councillors and the city’s planning panel for the developer to return with the same planning application that was rejected just weeks earlier. No attempt has been made to engage residents or councillors and to address their concerns since the last rejected application.”

Residents have ‘genuine concerns,’ she said, about local infrastructure being able to cope with 200 more family homes and argued that local road junctions are already operating beyond capacity. She argued that no solutions had been forward to address it.

A resident also reported it had taken him 90 minutes to get from Hilton Lane to Worsley to get onto the M60.

He said: “This is at 7am. Hilton Lane cannot take any more traffic as we have consistently stated during this process.”

One of the long-standing arguments of residents opposed to this proposal is the amount of traffic that the road attracts each day. 

In the planning meeting which eventually saw the application rejected, locals told councillors how they had taken it upon themselves to carry out their own traffic survey on the road, one which found that hundreds of cars use it every hour.

That’s far more than was included in the official survey included in the planning document, they say.

The resident said: “All residents share concern about the future of Hilton Lane’s traffic and congestion especially at peak, road safety and air pollution.

“We all have children who cross this road daily to get to school and there is a large High School (Harrop Fold) in close proximity – this has to remain front of mind – we see the problem the traffic brings daily,” he added.

Even before it was rejected in July, this application has been a long-running saga.

It was twice deferred by the planning committee – once because the traffic data provided in the report was out-of-date, and once because the council’s IT system was glitching.

And even before it reached committee stage, it had attracted controversy.

The 16-acre site is owned by Salford council but the MEN reported earlier this year that ‘No Trespassing, Private Land’ signs had been put up, despite the fact that no planning permission had been granted.

Bellway Homes has been contacted for comment.