Appeal overturns South Ribble decision on major housing scheme access

Bovis Homes has won planning consent on appeal which will enable it to start work on a development of 385 homes at Penwortham Mill in Preston.

Ribble Council granted planning permission for the residential scheme on the 60-acre site in 2015, but included a condition that access could only be made from the Cross Borough Link Road, and rejected a separate application from Bovis for the construction of a junction off Leyland Road.

Advised by planner Lichfields, Bovis appealed against the decision, as the link road is yet to be built yet and would involve building a road through land not owned by the housebuilder.

A condition was also that the design and construction of the access point from the link road had to be complete before Bovis could begin building the homes.

The Penwortham Mill project is made up of a number of elements, including a sports club which will be kept and refurbished, agricultural land which will be developed, a reservoir which will be cleaned, and a redundant mill complex which will be demolished to make way for homes.

Yesterday Government planning inspector Martin Whitehead ruled that access to the site should be provided from Leyland Road, and was the only option that would enable construction to go ahead without delays.

Bovis is now planning a start on site by the end of the year.