Fox wins council backing for Lancs housing scheme

Plans for 200 homes in countryside near Preston are set for approval at a planning meeting on January 9.

Fox Land & Property, part of the Congleton-based group Gladman, has put forward the application for 200 homes, a fitness centre and 10,000 sq ft of office space around a former depot at Longridge.

Ben Wallace, the Conservative MP for Wyre and Preston North, has opposed the scheme because it will use greenfield land. He says it will also put pressure on the local infrastructure.

The plans have also drawn criticism from 130 locals, the parish councils in Grimsargh and Whittingham and Longridge Town Council.

But officers at Preston City Council have recommended it is approved.

A report said: "The provision of suitable, available, and achievable housing land in a sustainable location and on some previously developed land will help achieve housing provision requirements."