General information

Here is some general information about Standish, some of which we used to base the policies for our Neighbourhood Plan upon.

This includes a village-wide survey, the biggest such survey ever undertaken in Standish, which asked questions on many issues.

For the full evidence for Standish Neighbourhood Plan, follow this link to see the Evidence Base and its appendices: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Strategies-Plans-and-Policies/Planning/Neighbourhood-plan/Final-Draft-Neighbourhood-Plan.aspx

Standish Voice submission to 106 contribution scheme consultation (2021)

Standish Voice survey results (closed questions)

Standish with Langtree Census data (2011)

Position Statement on Solar Renewable Energy 

Standish Pollution Survey 1 (Summer 2014)

Standish Pollution Survey 2 (Winter 2015)

Standish Rail Station feasibility report (2013)

Standish Voice response to draft Greater Manchester Framework

Lancashire Wildlife Trust report on Standish sites

Standish Voice response to the White Paper ‘Planning For The Future’

Asylum seekers

Former Standish hotel Kilhey Court has stopped housing asylum seekers and is not expected to do so again – after the Government decided it was not appropriate to put them there.

A huge campaign from many people, including Standish Voice, our councillors, the council, our MP and individuals, was successful in overturning the Home Office decision, made in August, to house migrants at the hotel on Chorley Road.

Serco, which organises asylum seeker accommodation, confirmed the last migrants were leaving the former hotel just before Christmas and there were no plans to house more there – although it still has a contract with Macdonald Hotels until the beginning of March for emergency use.

Standish Voice and Standish councillors have been in constant contact with Wigan Council over the issue and discussions are underway about the future of Kilhey Court, a historic building which was once one of the best hotel and country clubs in the Wigan area.

Wigan Council is in discussions with the hotel owners about the future of the site, with an announcement from Macdonald Hotels expected over the coming weeks, although unconfirmed information has reach us that none of the money earned from the Serco contract will be used to refurbish the hotel.

Standish Voice will continue to urge the council to act if planning rules over the use of Kilhey Court are breached. We employed a planning consultant to look into the planning applications granted at the hotel over the past 40 years and passed his findings to the council for consideration. No breaches of the planning permissions were found but there are questions to answer about the planning status of the site and Wigan Council is looking into this, along with other planning issues at Kilhey Court.

The Home Office is continuing to use the Britannia Hotel in Standish to house asylum seekers through a national agreement with that hotel chain, though the Government has repeatedly said hotels are unsuitable for this activity and claims it is working to reduce reliance on them for this.

Standish Voice gave this statement to the media: “We are pleased that this very sad saga has come to end. The use of Kilhey Court as asylum seeker accommodation was always wrong, inappropriate and ill thought out. It created anger in the community and allowed self-seeking elements to sow division in our village.