Goosnargh housing tipped for go-ahead
Outline plans for 95 homes on a previously refused site are recommended for approval at Preston City Council’s planning meeting next week.
Emery Planning is advising on the proposals, for 10.7 acres east of the former Swainson House Farm. Approval is recommended by officers, pending a Section 106 contribution featuring a £138,000 contribution for bus services.
Access will come from Goosnargh Lane via the next site, where 40 homes were consented in a 2019 decision. The land is designated as open countryside, close to the Goosnargh village boundary.
Two previous applications have sought consent for up to 87 homes, both being refused – one of these refusals was taken to appeal but was dismissed as Preston had by that time demonstrated its five-year supply to the Planning Inspector’s satisfaction.
However, with various changes in the planning syustem having taken place, that situation has changed. Officers state in their report to members regarding the current application that Preston cannot currently demonstrate a five-year supply under the standard methodology, and thus approval is recommended.
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Areas such as Goosnargh remain attractive to developers, and as outlined in the report set out for members, a variety of approvals have been given for housing in the area in recent years.
However, the contentiousness of plans in Preston’s outlying areas were highlighted by the council’s defence of a series of refusals in 2022. Sustainability is often cited as a concern.
Parish councils representing Goosnargh and Whittingham are objectors in this matter, as is Cllr Sue Whittam, who said that developers were trying to take advantage of a “temporary dip in the five year supply of deliverable housing”. Seventy two letters of objection have been registered.
Emery is working on behalf of landowners Gillian Wells, Thomas Swarbrick, and Lynn Johnson, with the professional team also including Project Ecology, Treestyle, Townsend Water Engineering, iRIS Sustainable Planning, ReLandscape, Martin Environmental Services, and DGL Associates.
The application site was previously part of the Johnson & Swarbrick poultry production business, of which the main farm buildings have now been demolished.
In its planning statement, Emery said that sicne the previous applications, there has been no material change in circumstances at the site, save for the associated farm’s demolition for another development, thus underlining this site’s redundant nature and making the case for redevelopment “even more compelling”. Forty homes are proceeding at the farm site itself.
As set out by Place in February when the plans were submitted, the proposal is for 62 open-market homes and 33 affordable homes – at 35%, this is above the threshold of 30%.
The application can be viewed on Preston’s planning portal with the reference 06/2025/0182.
