Warehouse scheme will 'tower over our homes'

A campaign group has said that scaled back plans for homes and "giant" warehouses on farmland in Greater Manchester are "still too much" and will "dwarf" the local community.

Developer Peel Land has begun a second consultation on plans to build about 500 homes and an industrial estate on farmland between Atherton and Westhoughton.

Amanda Coleman, chairwoman of the Gibfield Preservation Group, said: "These are going to be giant warehouses which are going to dwarf and tower over our homes ."

Peel Land said: "Careful consideration has been given to the relationship between the new development and existing homes, including a substantial green corridor and planting to screen views."

Residents have compared the Gibfield Park scheme to the warehouses which were recently built at the Astley Business Park development about four miles away.

Coleman, 55, said: "This is going to be metres from the back of our house but its not the distance - its more the height of these warehouses.

"They will be built on a hill, so they will be the height of the Astley warehouses."

According to the Gibfield Park consultation document, the height of the tallest buildings will be no higher than 12.5 meters (41 ft) and the warehouses will be at least 65 metres from the rear of properties on Schofield Lane.

The warehouses in Astley, which were completed by the logistics and industrial property firm PLP in January 2026, reach a height of up to 18 meters.

Peel Group owns the property development firm Peel Land and retains a minority stake in PLP, which operates as a stand-alone entity.

Peel Land launched a consultation on the scheme earlier this year and has now begun a second consultation, with scaled-down proposals.

The number of homes proposed for the site remains at 500 but the amount of industrial space, on land used for grazing horses off Gibfield Park Way, has been reduced by around a quarter.

John Hinckley, 69, who lives beside the planned development on Schofield Road, said: "We moved here ten years ago specifically for the semi-rural feel, so the impact will be pretty substantial and its probably going to mean that we will move house."

The location of homes and employment space at the Gibfield Park site was established through the Greater Manchester Places for Everyone plan, following several stages of public consultation between 2016 and 2024.

A quarter of the homes in phase one are set to be classed as affordable housing and the scheme also includes a country park.

Leigh MP Jo Platt said: "I do not believe the road network and wider infrastructure are in place to accommodate a development of this scale.

"I am also concerned about the loss of green space that forms part of these proposals".

Peel Land added: "Gibfield Park is a strategic allocation, identified to meet Wigan and Greater Manchester's needs for new jobs and homes."

The extension of Gibfield Park Way would form part of a longer route between Junction 26 of the M6 and Junction 5 of the M61, close to the Chequerbent roundabout.

The 8.5-mile route (13.6 km) is being delivered in stages and would pass though former colliery spoil heaps, mine shafts and open farmland to the south of Wigan.

During the initial consultation, some local people raised concerns about the level of traffic on nearby roads, the disruption caused by the construction process and the impact on wildlife.

Joan Higson, from Atherton, said: "When I was working, I used to have to set off an hour earlier for a 15-minute journey and the traffic has got even worse now.

"Its all going to be a concrete jungle and who wants that."

A consultation on the revised plans will continue until 1 September.

A planning application is set to be submitted by Peel Land next year and, if the plans are approved by Wigan Council, construction is expected to begin in 2028.