Fury over 400 homes planned on rural site

A COMMUNITY is enraged over plans to build 400 new homes in their backyard.

- BY SUSAN NEWTON

The Edenfield Masterplan encompasses hundreds of new homes in the Rossendale village of Edenfield. However, residents are unhappy about the plans, stating their village will have its character “completely changed” due to the sheer scale of 400 new homes proposed on 54 acres of land.

Resident Karen Lester has lived in her Edenfield home with husband Richard for more than 40 years. However, they’ve now put their property on the market, saying it's not the plans in themselves, but the sheer volume of houses set to be built that’s causing problems with residents.

She added: “If this wasn’t going ahead we probably would have stayed here. Our neighbour was born here and has been here his whole life, but he says he’s too old to move. It’s really sad and they’re just damaging what was a really pretty village.”

Citing problems such as the scale, loss of greenbelt and concerns over the development, Karen is opposed to the plans. She says some of her biggest concerns regarding the development are to do with traffic management and parking.

A car park has been proposed by a developer, but Karen says its inaccessible and would mean some residents would be parking far away from their homes.