Campaigners are claiming a small victory following speculation that controversial plans for a 270-home development in Colne have been dropped.
Community group Lidgett and Beyond have said that although they have won a battle, they have not won the war in their fight to keep developers off land behind Favordale and off Windermere Avenue.
Earlier this year, the group expressed their fears over an upcoming application for “The Rough”, stating that a beautiful location could potentially be lost to a suburban sprawl.
Now secretary of the 600-strong team Sarah Cockburn-Price has stated that although members are pleased to hear plans could have been discarded, they are ready to campaign again in the future.
She said: “It is a battle that has been won, but it is not the war.
“We are very pleased that developers have backed out, as we felt the development to be wholly inappropriate.
“We are not against development, but 270 homes there [at The Rough] is madness.
“We are fortunate that if anybody were to turn around and say ‘we are going to put 500 houses there’, we have got a healthy bank balance and a membership of over 600 to begin opposition.
“Lidgett and Beyond is not just about development, it is about looking at an area and how to improve it for the future. We would like to thank everybody in Lidgett and Beyond for supporting us, and to the borough council, the town council, and our MP for their help.”
Developers were unable to respond to the Colne Times before going to print.
Coun. Paul White said: “We expected an application to be forthcoming prior to now, and haven’t had any further formal correspondence since March.
“If an application was imminent we would expect them to be corresponding with our planning department, which they haven’t.
“I’ve heard the rumours that they won’t be proceeding with the scheme, as other people have. I hope that’s the case, because the scheme was far too big.”