AN action group is urging people to fight plans to build on greenbelt land before it is too late.

Walmersley Residents Against Gin Hall (WRAGH) is upset that Gin Hall, in Walmersley Road, could be used for employment in “very special circumstances”.

The former reservoir is greenbelt land and people living nearby do not want anything to be built there.

The site features in the final version of Bury Council’s core strategy, which sets out a vision for development over the next 15 years.

It looks at how much housing, employment and retail development Bury needs up to 2029 and identifies locations for these as well as areas where building will be resisted.

WRAGH member Stephen Hill, of Walmersley Road, said: “It should be kept as it is for Walmersley. If we had an industrial development or warehousing, it would be absolutely ruinous for the area.

“It would change the whole ambience of Walmersley. The traffic would be incredible.

“It’s important to keep the greenbelt not just here at Gin Hall, but in Bury as a whole, because we think there’s too much sprawl.”

Mr Hill, aged 75, believes there is already enough employment land to meet the borough’s needs and says planning permission has been granted for several former industrial sites to be used for housing.

Mr Hill also claims the council has not specified what “very special circumstances” could mean. He is now encouraging people to have their say on the core strategy before the consultation ends on Friday, September 13.

Comments will then be passed to the Secretary of State and will be considered by an independent planning inspector as part of the examination of the strategy.

Mr Hill said: “We have put 500 or 600 flyers out telling people this is the last chance they have to object to it before the inspector will see it.

“This is the final, finished core strategy and they are not going to revise it again.”

To view the core strategy and get involved in the consultation: go to bury.gov.uk/ corestrategy.

The documents can also be seen at: the council’s planning division reception, 3 Knowsley Place, between 8.45am and 4pm on weekdays; Bury Town Hall from 8.45am to 5pm on weekdays; and at selected public libraries during their normal opening hours.