DEVELOPERS want to build a new housing estate on a "redundant and dilapidated site" near the old East Lancashire Paper Mill.

Oldham-based Wiggett Construction have submitted a planning application to Bury Council, requesting approval to build 22 homes on the plot of land in Brook Street.

They say the site, which had previously been earmarked for 20 homes and an apartment block under a previous application, is not suitable for a business and could otherwise "create further harm by way of noise and disturbance to residents of the area".

A statement submitted to the council's planning office by agents Nicol Thomas said: "Following a number of outline planning applications, the new site owners now make a full planning application which finally seeks to secure a final viable new use on what is becoming a redundant and dilapidated site which has proven impossible to sell over the past 36 months.

"It has been established from current and extant planning history/approval that residential is an appropriate use for the site and that the site is no longer a suitable employment site.

"The application proposal represents significant material planning gain for residents and the wider environment within this area. It will result in the cessation of the use of the site by commercial vehicles (particularly HGVs) which cause significant problems for residents of the area at present.

"It would serve to remediate what is currently a dilapidate, semi-vacant employment site which has been subject to significant change and alteration over the past 75 years."

The development would consist of 20 two-storey houses in four blocks and two four-bedroom townhouses on the site bordering the old paper mill, which has long been identified as a potential site for a new high school.

The site's owners add that the estate would "safeguard the integrity of the site on the banks of the river Irwell which otherwise is falling into a poor state" and "contribute to the promotion of Radcliffe as a desirable location to live."