A MASTERPLAN housing development to transform an area of Leigh has been granted outline planning approval.

A meeting of Wigan Council's planning committee on Tuesday discussed the application for the construction of 470 dwellings on a 52-acre site off Firs Lane and Plank Lane.

It was previously used for colliery spoil deposits and is now principally open land with some wooded areas.

The application was submitted by the land's owners – the Canal and River Trust charity and Wigan Council.

The eventual hope of the proposal is to create a mixed residential development next to the Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The plans include building a variety of homes, from apartments and two bedroom starter homes to three and four bedroom family houses.

The application also features a new cycle-friendly footbridge giving better access from the proposed development to Pennington Flash Country Park, south of the canal, as well as to the wider area, including Leigh town centre.

A quarter of the site would be retained as open land, including a woodland area separating the site from the Taylor Wimpey marina development to the west.

An upgraded cycle route and surfaced pathway set within parkland on the northern canal bank will link into the marina development.

The development will provide two new vehicular accesses to serve residents in the form of a three-arm roundabout on Plank Lane and an arm to the existing roundabout on Firs Lane, public open space, landscaping, parking and associated drainage infrastructure.

A linear landscaped park will also be created between Mersey Street and Radnor Drive, providing a pleasant north-south connection through the site from Firs Lane to the canal.

Existing quiet residential cul-de-sac roads south of Firs Lane and Plank Lane will not be linked into the development site by road but some will have pedestrian and cycle pathways to help residents access the waterside parkland and footpath network to Pennington Flash and beyond more easily.

A total of 17 letters of objection have been received, along with a petition with 147 signatures over concerns which relate to traffic, noise and pollution, flooding, insufficient capacity in the existing infrastructure, loss of trees and green spaces, loss of privacy, impact on wildlife and green belt and loss of common land.

Council planning officials recommended that the committee approved the application subject to the conditions and to the satisfactory completion of a Section 106 agreement.

The public will have a further opportunity to comment or influence the detailed design of the houses and apartments once a developer is chosen and a detailed planning application is submitted.