A PETITION against a planning application for more than 100 homes on former farm land has been launched.

Cllr Chris Peacock launched the petition on April 1, calling for residents to object to the plans for 106 homes on the former Roscoe Farm site.

The plans, which were unanimously rejected to by Westhoughton Town Council last week have caused controversy with residents and councillors who are keen to hold on to the green field site.

Cllr Chris Peacock said: "I've started this petition after successfully lobbying the council to allow the time for public consultation to be extended till the end of April.

"We've got one month to get as many signatures as possible from residents who agree with me that this is an inappropriate development for Westhoughton.

"I'm not against all development in Westhoughton. We need suitable houses in the right places with the right infrastructure to support them.

"But someone can't just land over a hundred new houses in the middle of the town and expect the roads, schools and doctors to be able to cope without any additional support."

The petition, which received 32 signatures within two hours of being set up online, is to oppose plans for a mixture of three, four and five-bedroomed houses, in terraced, semi-detached and detached form, to be developed by Jones Homes.

In the application submitted by Peel Land and Property the owner said: "The site is well placed to meet the development needs of the area and would comprise sustainable development and deliver economic and social benefits."

However councillors have refuted the comments calling the development "inappropriate" and an "overdevelopment" for Westhoughton.

The deadline for the public consultation period is April 30.