Lancaster expected to reject 110 homes – in theory

Although applicant Oakmere Homes has taken the matter out of local hands by appealing to the Secretary of State on non-determination, proposals for land off Newlands Road will go before committee with a recommendation for refusal.

Following the expiry in November last year of the latest extension on time allotted to determine Oakmere’s proposals, the developer submitted its case to government in May.

This means that a decision is now out of Lancaster’s hands, but with committee members having now completed a site visit, they will offer up a resolution on how they would have voted, potentially informing the appeal decision.

North of Newlands Road, the application site amounts to 10.4 acres, on the eastern edge of the Lancaster urban area as described by officers. Most of the site is described as open fields.

Outline permission is sought for 100 homes, reduced from an initial 120, along with the site’s access point fronting Newlands Road. Oakmere is working with JWPC.

There is little planning history attached to the site, save for a 2000 application, which was also appealed on grounds of non-determination, an appeal that was refused.

In planning terms, the site is described as Urban Setting Landscape, meaning that “development should preserve the open nature of the area and character”. It is not considered to be well located from an access viewpoint.

However, the district’s housing supply is only 2.1 years at present, a factor that would generally weigh heavily in favour of approval. Close to 130 objections have been lodged.

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The critical point of contention – and the reason stated for recommending refusal – is highway contributions.

Contested by the applicant, the local highway authority has requested contributions that council officers acknowledge as “high,” at close to £7,000 per dwelling, with six-figure sums asked for across several interventions, including improvements at the Pointer roundabout, on the A6, and at Lancaster Gyratory.

Further concern exists within the council at the volume of housing proposed, with a feeling the site cannot accommodate as many as 110 homes reasonably.

The developer and council are however in harmony on affordable housing, with the threshold of 30% agreed on.

Oakmere’s plans can be viewed on Lancaster’s planning portal with the reference 23/00064/OUT.

An extension block will have shared amenities. Credit: planning documents

Committee will also consider a partly-retrospective application from Afar Properties for works at the listed Mill Hall on Moor Lane, which has long accommodated student living. Approval is recommended.

Battling to improve occupancy levels, Afar wants to add a three-storey extension linking them ill and annexe building, add a café and alter the offer to reduce it from a capacity of 96 bedspaces to 62 one-bed self-contained student flats.  Zub Architecture has designed the project.

The project involves the removal of 15 existing communal WCs, 18 communal bathrooms, and 11 communal kitchen/living space, replacing these with en-suite studio facilities and communal areas within the proposed front link extension.

The extension is to contain a communal living area, gym, and meeting space, and will be finished in glazing and porcelain rainscreen

Afar’s proposals can be viewed on Lancaster’s planning portal with the reference 25/00133/FUL.

Lancaster’s committee meets on Monday 23 June.