MONTHS of campaigning by the people of Pendle to stop the development of seven of the borough's green field areas into industrial sites have finally paid off.

The public consultation period which was due to start this month has been called off by Pendle Borough Council following a unanimous decision by all three parties on the council.

Instead, a full and detailed study of all the proposed sites will be now be carried out and evidence will be taken from all the relevant parties -- including local residents, pressure groups, environmentalists and businesses.

The U-turn in events came about after leader of the Liberal Democrats, Coun Alan Davies, called for the council to 'draw a line and start again' over its ideas of future planning in Pendle.

The study will be carried out by an independent academic or major educational institution and the recommendations from it will be used as the basis for allocating both employment and housing land in the future, as well as for other projects to regenerate the borough. Coun Davies said: "It's obvious there is no consensus about the future of Pendle. It is obvious that if the Council ploughs on with its consultation over seven possible sites for industry, it will provoke nothing but more massive local rows and achieve nothing.

"We have a choice. We can fight each other and let other people such as the County Council and North West bodies make the decisions or we can make a genuine effort to reach a new consensus on the future of our beautiful area and our real local communities. The time has surely come for a new approach.

"We want both the consultants and the terms of reference -- the questions we want them to answer -- to be agreed jointly between the council and the campaign groups such as Keep Off The Grass campaign and the parish councils and other bodies."

The decision to cease the consultation was also agreed upon because it was discovered it would coincide with the major study being carried out by the County Council for its Joint Structure Plan for the county.