Lancaster tipped to permit 135 homes and industrial scheme
The redevelopment of the site of a 1930s school into affordable homes and the construction of an almost 150,000 sq ft industrial scheme are both on the agenda for the city council’s planning committee when it meets on 16 December.
Mainway Estate
- Application reference number: 24/00509/FUL
An application for the construction of 135 affordable homes and a 3,600 sq ft community space, as well as the recovery of two football pitches, has been recommended for approval by Lancaster City Council.
The application, lodged on Lancaster City Council’s behalf by planning agent Turley, would see a housing mix of 64 single-bedroom units, 46 two-beds, 21 three-beds, and four four-bedroom homes.
Demolition has been completed but remediation works would be required before any construction can begin on the nine-acre former Skerton High School site, off Owen Road in Lancaster.
The proposed development would be a part two-, part three-, part five-, and six-storey building, and the tallest of the blocks would provide all its flats at social rent.
The tenure of the remaining units is yet to be determined. Plots one and two will host the apartment blocks, while plots three, four, and five – to be constructed in the project’s second phase – will be designated for terraced housing.
Three-storey terraced housing on Owen Road and two-storey terraced housing on Pinfold Lane would host the remaining units.
Car parking for up to 129 vehicles would also be provided.
A housing mix of 64 single-bedroom units, 46 two-beds, 21 three-beds, and four four-bedroom homes has been proposed. Credit: via planning documents
Working on the project are development manager Place Capital Group, Architect Grounded, Shape Landscape Architect, and MDL Arboriculturist.
Consultants LEDA, Heyne Tillett Steel, BB7, and AG Built Environment Consultancy have also contributed expertise.
Middleton Business Park
- Application reference number: 23/01182/OUT
An outline application seeking permission for the erection of nine industrial units in five blocks, with floorspace ranging from 7,750 sq ft to 34,300 sq ft has also been recommended for approval.
To be built at Middleton Business Park, the site’s total proposed floorspace would be 148,000 sq ft on an approximately 11-acre plot.
The proposed site is allocated as part of an employment site in Lancaster West Business Park, and a wider strategic employment area named Heysham Gateway.
Units one and two would be the largest, each spanning 34,300 sq ft. Units three and seven would be approximately 20,000 sq ft. The five remaining units would each have a floorspace of 7,750 sq ft.
The site is allocated as employment land with the Lancaster District Local Plan Proposals Map. Credit: Google Earth
Agent JWPC Chartered Town Planners submitted the application on behalf of applicant Concert Projects.
Indicative plans have been drawn up by Sunderland Peacock Architects.
A total of 279 car parking spaces have been put forward.
Those working on the scheme include SLR Transport Planning Consultants, BEK Enviro, Miller Goodall, and Yew Tree.
Allotments should be included in the proposal!!
By N.Beddoe
Rank hypocrisy from Lancaster here. Whilst the proposals are marginally specific, allowing the scope of the Flood Risk Sequential Test to be limited to the Mainway Estate, whilst requiring other developers to consider the entire borough is a joke. There is also no evidence that the applicant has written to the landowners of the discounted sites to check whether the site is ‘actually’ available or not as other developers are being forced to do. Lets hope Labour has taken heed of comments from the industry and resolves this flood risk sequential farce in the publication version of the NPPF.
By Double Standards