We are raising money to employ a planning solicitor and experts to help us stop the allocation in the emerging local plan a proposal for up to 2200 houses on grade 1 greenbelt land in historic Lathom in West Lancashire located on the outskirts of Skelmersdale and Ormskirk. This land has high ecological value and is habitat to endangered species such as bats, hedgehogs, butterflies, moths and barn owls and serves as a buffer to adjoining settlements to avoid coalescence so serves an important green belt purpose and will have severe traffic impacts because the location is not sustainable and will require all the new residents to rely on private cars. The need for this quantum of new housing in this location is rejected because existing homes in the area are sitting vacant, showing there is no demand from local people for new developments which damage the local community and ravage our struggling ecosystem.

As far is clear from the current consultation process, the next stage in the proposal is the preferred options consultation. In order to stand up for ourselves local residents need to employlegal and expert representation. The beautiful greenbelt land in West Lancashire is being exploited by ruthless companies to make a profit, not for the benefit of local people. This land is officially classed as the best and most versatile agricultural land. The government in a recent report have stated that West Lancashire has some of the most significant agricultural land in the whole of the country! West Lancashire Council appear to be willing to allow massive corporate interests to destroy this rich resource even in this time of food insecurity, especially as the war in Ukraine means there is a global wheat shortage.

The development will also add significant traffic to the already overstretched local road network. Local people will have to take the burden of added congestion, an influx of children to the small number of local schools, and extreme pressure on the already struggling NHS doctors and dentists. The infrastructure to support these new houses does not exist. Existing homes in the area were built after the Second World War and as a result of outdated electricity infrastructure are subjected to regular power cuts. Residents do not have access to superfast fibre broadband unlike the majority of the UK. The proposed development of this land was rejected as part of the 2019 local plan which was withdraw so it is extremely concerning that the allocation has now been proposed to go forward in the new emerging local plan. Existing homes in the area are sitting vacant, showing there is no demand from local people for these massive and invasive developments which damage the local community and ravage our struggling ecosystem.