A HOUSE developer has moved to sooth fears about moving a Radcliffe cricket club to accommodate a new 400-home project.

Last week, Homes England and Bury Council unveiled plans for a new development on the former East Lancashire Paper Mill site.

As part of the draft plans, the East Lancashire Paper Mill Cricket Club would be relocated from its existing site off Croft Lane to the opposite side of the retained reservoir, at Tower Farm.

Cricket club chairman told the Bury Times he had reservations about the new location because of the history of flooding in Radcliffe and he was unsure how good the drainage would be at the new spot.

A spokesman for Homes England, said: "The intention is to move the cricket pitch over to that site and we will take steps to deal with the issues that we might get.

"There are various issues like surface water, but I have spoken to colleagues who understand the types of soil you have to put in, the drainage and the grass mix. We don’t just dump some soil on and leave.

"There’s some discussion about getting a grant from various bodies, so the intention is to build the houses and the cricket pitch in a different place, of better quality and with better facilities.

"For the cricket club it’s the biggest thing that’s going to happen in a long time but for us we do this type of thing everyday, we have just put three soccer pitches in in Chesterfield, we have colleagues who understand the complexities."