A campaign is being launched to save a wildlife habitat which could be threatened by a 2,000 home development.

Kerry Gormley, a former Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Hyndburn, claims the new Huncoat Garden Village scheme would destroy a ‘very special, unique and cherished wildlife habitat at the former colliery site.

A masterplan is being drafted for the development which would more that double the number of people living in the area.

Ms Gormley said the proposals would also ‘inevitably bring more traffic to already dangerously congested narrow roads’ and put Huncoat’s allotments under threat.

In an open letter to Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson, she said: “my primary concern is the threat this plan poses to a very special, unique and cherished wildlife habitat - Huncoat’s former Colliery Site.

“Huncoat Colliery is one of the best places in Hyndburn to see butterflies, wildflowers and other wildlife.

“Since the Colliery stopped operating in the 1960s, the land has been reclaimed by nature and is now a haven for wildlife. Although classed as brownfield land, Huncoat Colliery is more like a nature reserve.

“Twenty-one butterfly species are present at Huncoat Colliery, 13 of which are in decline, including two species classed as a priority in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.”

More than 300 people have signed the online ‘Save Huncoat’s Wildlife Habitat’ petition and a campaign was launched on Friday, November 30 on the footbridge at Huncoat station.

Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson

In response to Ms Gormley, councillor Parkinson said they want to avoid Huncoat becoming an ‘out of town stereotypical housing development’, and instead ‘adopt the principles of garden communities’.

He said: “This is just the start of the journey and therefore there will be plenty of time for residents and stakeholders to have their say.

“The masterplan will provide a preferred spatial vision for Huncoat which we hope will form part of the council’s wider planning framework.

“There are many things for the masterplan to address, including those raised in Kerry Gormley’s letter.

"Transport and natural habitat and wildlife are areas that will be given very careful consideration as the masterplan is developed.”