MP Andy Burnham has pleaded with local people to get out and support the Leigh Sports Village plan at a crucial "make or break" stage -- to ensure the scheme gets the go-ahead from Wigan Council planning chiefs.

Mr Burnham, along with Leigh Sports Partnership chairman Trevor Barton, told the Journal they were worried that not enough supporters of the £75million project were writing to the Council to tell them how much they wanted the scheme to go ahead.

The Leigh MP and Mr Barton said an overwhelming 95 per cent of people had voted on the official Leigh Sports Village website in favour of the scheme -- which would be on land between Marshall Street and Atherleigh Way.

But they said public opinion was not reflected in the number of letters received by the Council's planning department - roughly a 50-50 split.

And they believed it would be a catastrophe for the town if the scheme did not get the go-ahead, despite the majority of public opinion being in favour of the project.

Mr Burnham told the Journal: "This is an important point in Leigh's history and the prize is so great. Ninety-five percent of people want the prize but not enough of these people are writing to tell the Council.

"It's absolutely imperative that the people of Leigh write to the planning department and tell them how much they want this project. If the scheme was to fail at such a crucial stage then community confidence in the town would be shattered.

"This is not a Xanadu 2 project -- Leigh Sports Village is a different project altogether. We have listened and taken onboard all the concerns of local people and amended the scheme accordingly during the consultation period. This a scheme for local people, which is wanted by local people."

Mr Barton stressed that the Sports Village project will not just benefit sport -- with a new 10,000 seat stadium to be used by both Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club and Leigh RMI Football Club part of the plans -- but educational provision in the town -- with a new campus for Wigan and Leigh College.

He said: "A new sixth form college is a vital element to the project. The only FE colleges in the town are on Railway Road and Marshall Street. These facilities will not draw people into Leigh. There has to be better sixth form provision. The new campus will address this and encourage more students to further their education once they reach 16."

Mr Burnham added: "People who are objecting to the Sports Village proposals should think long and hard about educational provision in the town. We desperately need a new college for the sake our children now and for future generations."

A spokesman for the Wigan Disability Sports Forum, said on the Leigh Sports Village website: "We have viewed the plans and the fact that the village would be accessible to all -- regardless of disability or not, is a very positive and essential point. This has to be the most innovative and forward-thinking proposal that Leigh has had for a number of years. So come on Leigh get behind the project and make it happen."

A Pennington resident who lives near to the proposed sports village, said on the website: "If we are not careful this town will become a ghost town in the very near future if we don't grasp this opportunity. This proposed site is right next door to my property and I have no doubt that it will not all be plain sailing -- but for once can we please consider the heritage that we will leave behind to our children. Leigh is an old place desperate for a revival, so let's not let it go."

Fourteen-year-old Christian Morris, a deputy member of the Youth Parliament at St. Mary's High, said: "People should step back and think for a second about young people's issues and what the sports village will do for us in making our school lives more interesting, our social lives more sociable and making Leigh that better place for everyone."

The plans also include a conference and business centre, a hotel, 72 homes, a commercial leisure and retail development, a 400-metre running track, sports pitches and a 1,400 capacity car park.

People can write to the Council with their view on the Sports Village proposals to: Steve Kinder, BA, Dip. TP, MRTPI, Director of Planning, Wigan MBC, Civic Buildings, New Market Street, Wigan. WN1 1RP. The reference numbers are: A/03/58531 - A/03/58535.

Full details of the plans are available from the official Leigh Sports Village website on: HERE