“It’s like a cruise ship in our garden”: New 60ft warehouses loom over homes | SWNS

Families living in the shadow of two enormous warehouse said it feels like a “cruise ship” has landed in their back gardens.

The colossal steel frames, which are part of a 350,000 sq ft industrial site, loom over fences and hedges, dwarfing homes that stand just metres from the development.

Residents in Tyldesley, Wigan, described being alarmed by the scale, with some considering moving.

Plans from developer PLP show the massive site will be eventually be home to four vast warehouses, with the council agreeing to a maximum height of 18.3m (60ft) for two of those buildings.

Delivery giant Whistl has already snapped up one of the huge sheds, signing a 15-year deal on a 140,000 sq ft unit.

A council boss insisted landscaping would help soften the appearance, adding that the project followed proper planning processes.

But residents argued the final approved plans from were far bigger than had been originally designed.

They worried about the effect on property values, arguing there was limited consultation before building started.

John Peters, 71, a retired teacher, has lived on the estate since 1978. He said: “It’s a total shock when you walk out of the door.

“The enormity of the thing just strikes you. It shouldn’t be there.”

He said his dreams of a peaceful retirement were “shattered” by the arrival of the structure so close to his home.

A campaign group has been set up to rally neighbours and fight the development, with more than 200 people in attendance at a recent meeting.

Mr Peters claimed the way residents were informed about the project left many feeling blindsided.

He said: “A letter was sent out to 90 residents, but I don’t know how they selected those residents because some of the people who back onto the site didn’t get anything.

“It was just completely random.”

Paula Boardman, 47, lives with her husband and two kids in a house that backs onto the imposing warehouse.

She said: “It’s quite upsetting, because we used to have such a lovely view. We knew this was going to be built, but we thought it was going to be a lot smaller.

“As soon as the framework went up, everyone realised the height of it – it’s humungous. I’m worried it’s going to take all our sunlight.

“It’s like a cruise ship at the back of our garden. Even if we wanted to move, I think the value of the house has gone down.”

She raised concerns about damage in her home that she fears could be related to the warehouse’s size and proximity of construction work.

She said: “I noticed a dip in the flooring back in February and a big crack in the wall.”

Steve Retford, 69, said he no longer sits in the garden because of the structure that stands just 30m away – describing the impact as “profound”.

The retired police officer said: “It’s just dreadful. We feel this sense of injustice.

“I don’t profess to be a planning expert, but when you look at the sheer enormity of this, it’s not right.

“It must have taken tens of thousands of pounds off the value of our houses. Every time I think about it, I feel sick.”

Care worker Danielle Edwards, 38, fears the warehouse could make it difficult to sell her home in the future.

She said: “It’s awful. We bought this house because we’re a young family wanting to stay in the area.

“It would be very difficult to move. I can see it from my back garden. We thought they were going to be low-rise industrial units, but they’re not.”

Retired project manager Eric Earnshaw, 79, has lived in the Tyldesley area all his life but is now preparing to leave for the Lake District.

The keen dog walker said it’s because he’s had enough of constant building work.

He added: “There are walks that take me along fields in the area where there are plans for thousands of homes.

“All the green space around here is disappearing.”

Aidan Thatcher, director for place at Wigan Council, said: “This planning application went through our planning consultation and committee process.

“The final plans include landscaping which will help to screen and soften the appearance, and mitigate the impact on nearby properties.

“We will continue to monitor the site throughout construction, ensuring this development bringing new jobs and investment to the area is delivered properly.”

A spokesperson for PLP said they would not comment.

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So, I’m Paula. I live in Ashley. Um, and obviously the house um back onto the development in Ashley. And as you can see, it’s really, really high. A lot higher than we actually thought. And it’s causing a lot of issues externally and also internally within the house. As you can hear, a lot of noise at the minute. This has been going on for months. A lot of dust. As you can see, eventually it’s taking a lot of light as it is. So once the paneling goes on, it’s going to take even more of our light and affect our well-being. It’s going to be like having I would say a cruise ship at the back of the garden. Um so yeah, it’s done a lot of damage throughout our house, which I’m going to take you into now. Firstly, going inside, um the actual flooring has dropped. So as you walk in it, the floor actually drops, but the actual um heavy bone flooring is actually now cracking. So, it’s actually damaging people’s feet if if you’ve got no shoes on um and getting a lot deeper. And we’ve also got a lot more cracks coming through on the extension up and around uh the extension. Um and then probably worst of all is outside down the side of the property. You got a big crack on the floor which has come since the the building work on the side of the walls. This has actually progressively got worse over the last couple of months. But it started off with a a um crack down side, but it’s now gone a lot wider and a lot deeper and then there’s little cracks coming everywhere now. But this is the big concern with the depth of the cracks, which again, this has been the last month I would say that it’s really got quite bad. I’m Steve Redford uh with Wthingington Drive at Ashley and you can see behind us this uh monstrous uh development that has been created um despite numerous objections by the residents. Um, you’ve got to ask questions as what type of integrity has gone into a planning department that allows that in such close proximity to housing and the school. It just leaves you speechless and it’s the utter contempt that uh Wigan planning department has treated the residents. Uh we had people at the meeting, the planning meeting, and they scoffed at the applications that were made from a previous MP for the area and other representations that were made by a counselor. They just treated it as though it was a joke. And we’ve got that from the horse’s mouth who the people who were actually in that meeting. It was an utter disgrace what went on there. As you can see, this the sheer size of this thing is just staggering. People have used the term lifechanging. It is life-changing. People are not sleeping. There’s the financial impact of it must have taken tens of thousands of pounds off the value of people’s houses in the immediate vicinity. It’s an absolute disgrace what’s gone on and there seems to be no recourse of action against the planning department. That cannot be right in 2025. It simply cannot be right.