Plans to sell off land earmarked for a much needed train station would “effectively kill the hopes” of the facility ever being built, a councillor warned.
The land site was proposed to be the location for a station for the town having been purchased for just £1. Boris Johnson included the project in a list of pre-General Election promises in 2019 and Lancashire County Council submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case to the Department for Transport last year. But those hopes were dashed when the government rejected the idea in August in a decision which was branded a “cruel joke”.
He said: “From my point of view I am completely opposed to this proposal and this clearly demonstrates that Conservative controlled Lancashire County Council has no ambition for Skelmersdale. As we all know Skelmersdale remains starved of the major infrastructure we need to serve and grow our town. The notice states that "Lancashire County Council intends to dispose of an area of public open space being the former Glenburn Sports College, Yewdale, Skelmersdale, WN8 6JB inclusive of land that contained the former Skelmersdale College Site owned by the Newcastle College Group. The area of open public space to be disposed of measures approximately 40 acres ."