Residents of Astley in Greater Manchester, up in arms about the construction of an 18-metre-high 'monster' warehouse, will attempt next week to block plans by distribution firm Whistl to use dozens of HGVs and trailers for its round-the-clock operation at a two-day public inquiry. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Stephen Retford, 70, who retired from the police in 2006, described the development as 'the total injustice of it'. Staring up at the 18-metre-high mega-warehouse, he said: 'It's like having a cruise ship in our back garden.' Andy Burnham expressed concern weeks before he became prime minister, and Bev Craig, his successor as Greater Manchester mayor, said she too was concerned. 'Old industry wouldn't have got that close to your house. So why is it that new industry can?' she said.
At the two-day public inquiry, villagers will describe how the 'cacophony' of noise is already driving some to sleep deprivation and depression. 'It's had a profound impact on the neighbourhood. The noise wakes you up at 2am and you can't get back to sleep. We've not had a proper night's sleep in well over a year. It's a living hell,' Retford said.
This once-quiet village is now on the frontline in a nationwide fightback against superstructures springing up everywhere from Devon to Cardiff and the Scottish Borders. Plans were announced last week for Britain's largest datacentre at the site of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire, and a further 315 'hyperscale' datacentres are queueing to connect to the National Grid.
Down the road from Retford's house, a woman looked out of her daughter's bedroom window at the Whistl warehouse just metres away. The woman, a police officer who does not want to be named, said her 10-year-old son, who is autistic, refused to play in the garden because of the 'continuously whirring' noise of the conveyor belts. Her eight-year-old daughter has become too scared to play in her bedroom. 'As soon as she comes home from school, those blinds will be shut because she doesn't want anyone to see in. She hates it. She does get scared about it,' she said, pointing to a CCTV camera on the warehouse facing their home.
Like many of their neighbours, the woman and her husband moved to Astley before plans had been submitted by a firm part-owned by Peel Group, one of Britain's biggest landowners, run by the billionaire John Whittaker. Back then, they were surrounded by farmland where lambs, cows and horses grazed. Now their view is a giant hunk of grey steel that was named the worst new building in the UK this year. 'It was a lovely view, so secluded. When we saw the structure of this, it was like: oh my God, what is this?' she said.
As mayor, Burnham said earlier this year that the development had not been managed properly and that key things 'should have been done differently'. Wigan council said it acted properly in approving the superstructure despite objections from the local MP and dozens of residents. However, the council's leader, Labour's Nazia Rehman, admitted last month that 'some lessons have been learned' and said that in future 'consultations [with residents] will be proactive'. Local leaders have scrapped plans for four other giant warehouses in response to the backlash.
Helen Halbous, who moved to the estate seven years ago, said: 'It's a feeling of being screwed over by Wigan council, having been born and brought up here. People who had a voice of power [in the council] either made this awful decision or they looked away and let it happen. It was a little mining village and now we're this industrial centre. It's so wrong.'
Halbous, 47, said she and her partner, Sami Halbous, now felt trapped in a house they once loved and they feared they would be unable to sell up. 'A neighbour had their home valued and they lost 30%, and that's if they can sell,' she said. Residents felt hoodwinked about the size of the structure and its closeness to their homes, Halbous said. 'The plan in 2019 was it was to be used for employment. It was never to have an 18-metre-high warehouse. Those permissions were changed [before 2024] and changed really quietly. We wouldn't have bought here and let ourselves get trapped like this.'
PLP, the land owner, said the size and scale of the buildings had not changed since its planning application in 2023. It said earlier plans for smaller units, submitted in 2017 by Peel, one of its biggest shareholders, had since lapsed. Wigan council said it recognised the 'strength of feeling in the community and do not underestimate the impact residents tell us the development has had on them'. It said an independent review found its planning process was 'legally sound' and followed national guidelines but there were 'lessons around engagement and transparency'. It said: 'We have acknowledged...'