New battle in warehouse war

RESIDENTS have once again vowed to fight off plans for a controversial warehouse extension and multi-storey car park.

Fulfilment Logistics’ proposals for its Lilac Mill site in Beal Lane, Shaw, have twice been defeated, but the firm has appealed and the application will now be decided by a planning inspector.

No date has yet been set for the public inquiry but it is expected to take place in the Civic Centre.

Designs for a 175ft (53-metre) high warehouse — only eight metres lower than Oldham Civic Centre — were scrapped after sparking an outcry that it would tower over Shaw. But a fresh application would still see it reach 127ft (39-metre).

Oldham Council’s planning committee turned down the plans in March and then a resubmitted application in August.

Councillors said the proposed building was still too high and heavily criticised the impact on traffic in a densely populated area.

A 150-strong crowd packed the council chamber at the August meeting after submitting letters to the planning department stating that the warehouse was too tall and disproportionate to existing buildings.

They also claimed the structure would block out light during the day, while flooding the area with artificial light through the night, while car park access would cause traffic problems.

Shaw and Crompton Parish Council chairman Councillor Hazel Gloster, who has been called as a witness to the inquiry, said residents were again up in arms and she had been inundated with phone calls against the plans.

A residents committee formed to object to the proposals will continue its fight.

Councillor Gloster said: “They have the right to appeal, I’m just hoping it doesn’t go through. It’s been a massive amount of effort over two years to try to stop it going through and a lot of people don’t want it, including Shaw traders.”

The firm, a mail order business owned by JD Williams, says it has outgrown the site and needs to expand to secure the jobs of the 1,000-strong workforce.

Bosses stressed there had been no objections from any statutory body and that the proposal made best use of the site.

They claim the development will only have a minor visual impact.

A petition signed by more than 500 employees of JD Williams supported the plans on the grounds that it will create more job opportunities and encourage investment in the area that has already witnessed enough industrial decline.

Shaw and Crompton Parish Council, which objected to the plans, has chosen Councillor David Dunning to represent it at the public inquiry. Written representations have to be made before November 27.