Go-ahead for 650 homes in South Ribble
TWO disused industrial sites near Preston are set to be transformed into more than 650 homes after planning permission was granted for their development
South Ribble Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved proposals for housing on the former Gas Works site in Lostock Hall and the old Vernon Carus land in Penwortham.
An application for a new roundabout off Leyland Road to serve the Penwortham Mills development was turned down by councillors, who said both schemes must be accessed via a new link road.
A variety of houses will be built on the adjacent sites, from one-bed apartments to five-bedroomed properties. A percentage of them will be affordable homes, which are properties that will be made available to buy or rent to local people who cannot afford accommodation on the open market.
Both schemes include significant contributions of land and amenities to the ambitious Central Park project, with buffer zones between housing and public open spaces.
The Morris Homes application for the gas works includes 281 homes, which will be accessed via a new link road between The Cawsey and Carrwood Road. The link road, for which planning permission was granted last year, will also ease congestion through Lostock Hall, and provide a much better route between Penwortham, the A6 and the motorway network.
As well as their 385-home application for the Vernon Carus site, Bovis applied for an alternative traffic access onto the site from Leyland Road. Councillors turned this down on the grounds that the proposed layout would not have provided a free-flowing junction, which in turn would have had a negative impact on the existing road network.
It is now up to the developers to work together to create access to both sites from the new road.
The Government has told South Ribble Borough Council that it must find land to build 417 homes per year up to 2026, and the two sites were allocated for housing following extensive consultations with the community.
The developments also form part of the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal, which will deliver substantial transport, infrastructure and community improvements over the next ten years.
