I haven’t posted about it yet, but last Monday’s canvassing around Station Road was a genuine eye-opener. In particular the strong feelings about the student population and the effects it has on the rest of the community. I’ll go into this more at another time, but one specific issue was raised about a proposed development of apartments on Burscough Street.

Thanks to the power of the internet you can see the application and related documents here.

I haven’t come across anyone who is in favour of this application so far, but I’m sure there are some. I know that these items have to be taken individually, which can devalue the local context and concerns. Far too many times when I was on the planning committee we were told that each application has to be considered on its own merits and not on what it might lead to.

I would encourage anyone with an interest in Ormskirk and our community to review the plans carefully, particularly the three sets of drawings dated 16/3/09 since these are the ones that the planning officers and committee members will be considering.

For my part, I think that a 22 bedroom set of flats which are mainly bedrooms and very little other living space, placed on a site that already has student accomodation, seems like we have gone past the “thin end of the wedge”. If this application were to be granted, it would represent the systematic building of student and multi-occupancy flats in a part of Ormskirk that has already suffered a lot from the change of existing homes over to multi-occupancy.

The planning committee has to draw a line somewhere, and I believe that this application shows that it has to stop abandoning the communities in Ormskirk to “conservative free-market ideals” and should start showing some leadership in how it sees the town being developed in the future.

There is a new period of public consultation on this development and I would urge all people – those in favour and those against – to look at the plans and then send their comments to the planning department so that they hear the clear voice of the local community.