Castle Green secures Chorley go-ahead
The developer can proceed with 146 homes at Little Knowley Farm, an allocated site on the edge of the urban area, securing a 9-2 verdict at committee.
Castle Green’s Heapey Road site is close to 20 acres, with the developer proposing a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom housing. Ninety five of these would be for market sale, and 51 affordable. The developer is working with Pegasus Group.
Chorley cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply at present, and although the site – which sit off Blackburn Brow, close to the M61 – is outside the settlement boundary, it is immediately adjacent to it.
Around 130 objections were filed with Chorley ahead of the meeting, citing concerns over issues including traffic, highways impact, pedestrian safety, loss of green space and biodiversity harm.
A material consideration was a lost appeal to deliver 130 homes on a nearby site, with a planning inspector ruling in 2023 that despite the supply question, the countryside should be protected. A 2024 bid to develop the Castle Green site as part of a larger application of 200 homes was withdrawn.
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No technical consultees registered objections to the proposals that went to committee this week, although the highways team raised a query over how roads could be impacted by how the timeline of other major developments in the area play out, specifically Botany Bay.
This was an issue picked up on by opponents, who made te case that no decision should be made until full clarity on outstanding questions around Botany Bay and Botany Hill are cleared up.
There were a number of voices opposing the application heard at the meeting, but ultimately the officer recommendation of approval won the day.
Cllr Craige Southern’s comment perhaps summed up the mood of many on the committee: “We can’t have it both ways, by allocating sites for housing, and then refusing applications on them. If wesay no to this we could open up the floodgates.
“I don’t particularly like the application, or building on farmland in general, but we have to look at it pragmatically, and if this were to go to appeal, what would be the outcome? We have attached 28 conditions, so I’m struggling to see how we can say no.”
The application can be seen on Chorley’s planning portal, reference 25/00634/FULMAJ.
