GRAHAM Blackburn, of Hayman Avenue, Leigh supports the Xanadu theme - but not on the Marshall Street college site.

He said:"The basic idea is excellent, but not in a prime and limited central greenfield site that is simply not big enough and will cause misery for thousands in the immediate vicinity.

"Roads surrounding the project are simply inadequate to even attempt to cope with the massive increase of traffic.

"The application to increase the Asda site in addition to the new Sainsbury's store compounds the problem tenfold. The current new by-pass roundabout is completely inadequate - just compare it with the sophisticated large roundabouts at Winwick Road, Warrington built to cope with massive traffic flow to the Gemini retail park"

Mr Blackburn has contacted the Environment Agency and MP Lawrence Cunliffe suggesting Xanadu should have been targeted on the derelict Bickershaw colliery site.

"It would facilitate road access and still has the colliery railway running to the site - and the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

"The Government has declared public transport must be given precedence over the car. This application runs counter to this."

XANADU opponents claim project plans contradict the Council's own UDP blueprint for future development.

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