Bloor plots 220 Ormskirk homes
Outline proposals prepared by Astle Planning & Design have been lodged with West Lancashire Council for the Crosshall Brow site.
Should consent be granted, the scheme could include detached, semi-detached and mews dwellings with associated landscaping, car parking and public open space.
Bloor Homes’ team includes planner Satplan, Betts Hydro and Betts Geo, Eddisons, Tyler Grange, JPM Acoustics, SLR, Oracle and Orion Heritage.
Currently used as agricultural land, Bloor’s site is around 24.5 acres, to the east of Ormskirk. It is around 1.2km from the town centre. There are two conjoined red line plots, both within the same ownership.
The site is bounded to the north by Crosshall Brow and housing, to the east by a public footpath and agricultural land, to the south by Ruff Wood and to the west by Ormskirk District General Hospital.
APD said that “the future development’s character will be influenced by the local surroundings and use materials that will reflect the local vernacular”. The advisor said that the site is in a sustainable and accessible location, close to shops and supermarkets with the benefit of transport links to local centres.
With the plans validated on 12 January, the deadline for neighbour consultation has now passed, with the proposals meeting with some resistance – a number of objections have piled up in the documents section of the planning portal, although several are duplicate submissions.
As set out in the planning statement from Satplan, pre-application discussions have set out clearly what is expected at the site. It is wholly Green Belt, meaning “very special circumstances” must be shown to allow development. The site’s Flood Zone 1 status means a detailed flood risk study is required, while the land’s agricultural quality and the proximity of ancient woodland at Ruff Wood are also factors.
Against that must be weighed West Lancs’ chronic housing supply position, which at the time of the pre-application meeting stood at 1.86 years, far enough short of five years to suggest there is unlikely to be meaningful change by the time the project reaches committee.
Council officers acknowledged at that meeting, Satplan said, that the scheme providing 50% affordable housing could “attract substantial positive weight” when the time for determination comes.
Want to know more? The proposal’s document suite can be seen on West Lancs Council’s planning portal, with the reference 2025/1053/OUT.
If this gets through planning, it surely defeats the object of having a Green Belt in the first place? Sloppy of WLDC not to have their allocations sorted though.
And given buildings in Ormskirk are a stylistic hodgepodge it will be interesting to see what they think the local vernacular looks like. Will each house come fitted with both a tower and a spire?
By Edge Hell
Good news for Ormskirk.. Walking distance to a school, 5 minute walk to a bus stop, a 10 minute commute to the M58 and adjacent to woodland.. ticks lots of boxes and gets my vote. Chuck in a discount for the NHS workers and it’ll be nailed on. Green belt flag bearers can put away those pitch forks and extinguish their flaming torches on this one.
By G McCain
Aye G McCain. They sold the houses next to the site as being adjacent to green belt.
By Verum
Grade 1 agricultural land and we import food. Should be turned down and no running to the Inspectorate. Next guidance should ban any applications on grade 1 land
By Frank
No building whatsoever should take place on Grade 1 agricultural land. The country has a economic trade deficit in food yet the devlopers want to take this land out of food production. Any appeals should use a Green Book type methodologies (BCR )or is this beyond the wit of planning inspectors. If the developers are looking for land the Everton District in Liverpool is a wide open foeld with plenty of infrastructure.
By Anon
Frank & Anon (strange name)… might be worth asking the said farmer (assuming the land is owned).. selling some of their land may be the thing that keeps them solvent and able to farm for years to come. A wheat field with an annual profit of only a few hundred pounds per acre against a 6 or 7 figure sum? I expect that the school across the road was a field at some point… Edge Hell.. your statement is contradictory.. having a pop at WLDC’s allocations (although they probably deserve it) and then complaining about new housing .. if you complain about/stop all planning then they are put in an undefendable position. I do like the word hodgepodge though ..
By W Carson
@W Carson, so it’s ok not to have food security as long speculative developers can build on grade 1 land. It’s a national issue and as had been said why won’t the developer put in plans for Everton? no agriculture, infrastructure, and Liverpool had a population over 700k plenty of scope for expansion. Devoper speculation in grade 1 areas needs a national review and legislation to stop it. It’s profits first national interest last.
By Frank
It should not happen as it is all ready gridlocked and ruff woods wat happens there cfry
By Anonymous
Not contradictory at all W Carson – WLDC not sorting out their allocations in good time means a free-for-all that only favours developers and land speculators, not the wider good or local need.
Certainly not an objection to building new houses – generating useful Council Tax income and affordable homes – but West Lancs’ entire new housing demand for years could go in and around Skelmersdale, which has only half the population intended in the 60s and has therefore always struggled to support stuff like education, shops and leisure.
By Edge Hell
Rubbish homes pretty to look at but poor quality. And don’t care about there community while there building the site.
By Neigbour of a bloor homes site. And I'm a carpenter and builder of 48 years.
@ Frank.. totally agree on food security but (there’s always a but) we as a nation are trained to care more about our pension plan than what a farmer gets per pint of milk. Dividends from multinationals in the construction industry are fawned over while flooded fields are an inconvenience at best to most. Labour’s opened the door to more of this and I doubt they’ll be changing their minds any time soon..
By W Carson
@ Edge Hell: Skelmersdale’s a sad story… Poorly designed (many a thesis written), dated housing stock, no easily accessible railway station.. Developers have almost hit the boundaries unless we start on more fields and I don’t want to upset Frank! and as Kirsty Allsopp says.. its Location Location Location.
By W Carson
@W Carson – see Brabners report on Skem, the rail link is crucial here for better connectivity. W Lancs planning have always been slow but what happened to the Wider Liverpool City Region Housing Plan? Not seen it for a while but it was leading to minimal development in W Lancs, maybe its been superseded. Not sure about Kirsty these plans plus the others for Aughton/Ormskirk destroy the location. This is as well as the reduction in agricultural output and increased imports – economic madness
By Frank
The Ormskirk plains..some of the most fertile agricultural land used for housing, beggars belief.
By Fi