Saddleworth homes plan approved after legal bid rejected

Plans for hundreds of homes in the Saddleworth countryside have been approved after a judge ruled against a judicial review.

Proposals to build a £3m road and up to 265 homes in Springhead were first refused in 2018 by Oldham's planning committee, before being agreed in 2019.

A revised plan to build 234 homes has now been approved, despite objections.

Saddleworth Parish Council had also raised concerns over the types of houses approved.

Developer Russell Homes applied to the council for permission for 234 homes to be built at the Knowls Lane site, but later submitted a revised proposal on the type of house to be built.

The latest design proposals range between five, four, three and two-bed houses, including a mix of detached, semi-detached and four-bedroom town-houses, with 53 designated as affordable.

Objector Jane Barker said there were "many reasons" why the application should be refused, including that some proposed houses were still in the "zone of influence" of a mineshaft.

But Thomas Relph, planning and land manager from Russell Homes, said the Coal Authority had no objections.

Local campaign group Save Our Valleys had raised more than £50,000 to launch a legal challenge against the planning decision, but a judge ruled against their bid for a judicial review.

The council approved the application by nine votes in favour to four against, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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