Bellway bags Lancaster consent
Amended plans for 115 homes at Quernmore, close to the M6, have been greenlit by the council’s planning regulatory committee.
The approval, which came in line with officer recommendation, comes three years on from Bellway securing a resolution to approve. The volume housebuilder’s partners on the application are William Airey, Pauline Ainley & Nathan Airey.
APD and Tyler Grange are on the professional team.
February 2023 saw members vote that permission be granted for 116 homes, subject to a Section 106 legal agreement and conditions. However, there were then delays, with haggling over the tenure of affordable housing and viability, so the S106 was not completed.
A further snag emerged in November 2023, when officers advised that a flood risk sequential test would be required to ensure that requirements of the NPPF were addressed.
This led the applicant to re-think things, initially submitting a fresh scheme of up to 125 homes, which officers had been set to recommend for refusal.
Further negotiations have since taken place, resulting in the current iteration, of 115 homes.
The site amounts to 13.7 acres and is in the east of Lancaster, less than two miles from the city centre.
The housing mix as it stands is for 80 market-sale homes and 35 affordable. This breaks down as eight one-bed apartments, 18 two-bed houses, 58 three-bed houses and 25 four-bed houses, and six two-bed bungalows.
Access to the site currently comes from an agricultural access from Quernmore Road to the south and a private driveway to the east. The eastern boundary of the site is formed by the M6, and the southern boundary by Quernmore Road.
The western side bounds a private access to farm buildings, beyond which lies the former Lancaster Moor Hospital and associated land, which has been developed for housing and includes a small food store. To the north of the site lies open fields. There is housing in the area, while more is likely on allocated sites.
Chief among the conditions attached to the approval is a contribution of close to £230,000 for highway improvements, notably at the Pointer roundabout.
Documents relating to the scheme can be viewed on LCC’s planning portal, reference 21/01008/FUL.
