Petition calls for an access road re-think

Residents have launched a petition to force a council re-think over access to a huge housing development in Bamber Bridge.
Work has started on the Wesley Street siteWork has started on the Wesley Street site
Work has started on the Wesley Street site

Locals living near the former cotton mill site off Wesley Street are up in arms over plans to use a “side road” entrance for traffic instead of the town’s main street.

Developers say they wanted access from Station Road to their 196 proposed new homes, but currently can’t use that route after South Ribble Council revealed it had a “legal issue” with the site of the old McKenzie Arms.

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Now residents have launched a campaign group called CHAOS (Community Has All Our Support) to fight for a council U-turn. The group has almost 800 members and a petition raised more than 500 signatures in a matter of days.

“We probably won’t get anywhere,” said Wendy Robinson, one of the organisers. “But we had to do something. Feelings are running very high round here.”

The McKenzie Arms was bought by South Ribble in 2012 and demolished to make way for the main road access. The bill to taxpayers was reported to be around £500,000. But in the six years since nothing has happened and the land stands empty and overgrown. Residents claim they have been left in the dark over the issue, even though the council insists it has sent letters to hundreds in the area outlining the plan.

Gina Strong, also from CHAOS, said: “This is going to leave us with real traffic problems in this area. No-one can understand it.”

South Ribble Council declined to comment on the issue.

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