New report offers hope to Parkside plan
Wigan today received new hope of a massive jobs boost - developers are bidding to transform the former Parkside pit and surroundings with a £270m scheme for a lorries-on to-trains/warehousing motorway interchange.
Astral claim the project will eventually employ more than 7,000 people and remove half a million HGV movements a year from the North West's motorways, as well as boosting local industry.They argue that there are special circumstances to allow this major industrial development in the green belt.Now the site has been named as one of the top locations in the north of England by an influential body.The independent Panel examining the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), which determines the planning framework by which local authorities have to operate, has published its findings following extensive public consultation across the North West.This follows a series of Examination in Public hearings between October and February.In its policy recommendations, the panel states that Parkside would have considerable advantages as a location for an inter-modal freight interchange.
It goes on to say that a freight interchange would "lie between the major centres of production and consumption on Merseyside and in Greater Manchester".It also states that any change in the green belt status for the area should only be made for the development of a rail freight interchange. Secretary of State for the Environment, David Milliband, will now consider the report, together with representations, aiming to publish a draft RSS this autumn, with the final plan expected to be published in early next year.That will then free the application to go before councillors.
Wigan Metro has already agreed to support the project in principle on condition that a "minimum use" rail agreement is built into any planning permission.Parliamentary spokesman for the project, Dave Watts MP, a leading member of pro-development pressure group Parkside 2010 which has been partially funded by developers Astral, said: "The panel's findings are great news for local people in terms of jobs and for all those who support the transfer of freight on to rail."The endorsement they have given to rail freight in the local area confirms what most of us have been saying all along – that Parkside is the best available option for developing a rail freight terminal in the region."
http://www.wigantoday.net/wigan-news?articleid=2892326
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2 comments:
How stupid and blind can you all be,
some jobs will be created granted, but the amount of extra traffic concentrated onto this already heavily congested area will be huge. Anyone who knows the area will already be aware of this but the majority of people who are pro development are clearly unaware of the current situation and completly blind to the future traffic chaos this will cause, rail is just a smoke screen, I travel regulary along the m6 , m1 , m25 and the amount of hgv movement during weekday times is very high a development of this nature will not reduce the amount of hgv movement but increase them as any fool will realise the raqil infrastructure is not up to the job and the money to improve it will never be made available as this will have to into other black holes the goverment seems to have. As for the jobs, yes there will be some but this is going to be so state of the art it wont need that many jobs, don't forget about the migrant worker influx, they are prepaired to work for low wages which most of these jobs will be, so most of those currently unemployed probably wont be bothered to apply for as they already not applying for similar work anyway, there are jobs out there but many of the unemployed are to idle to actually do them as they consider the wages to low so why work when we the tax payer can fund their dole cheque, ffs change the menatlity of these people and you might achieve something. wake up parkside will be a disaster.
Funny that: you state these jobs will be 'state of the art' yet they'll be very low paid and done by migrant anyhow? A bit of a contradiction there but that just about sums up the objectors agruments.Contradictions, assumptions and rumour.Keep up the good work.
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