Preston planners back Broughton homes despite MP objection
An outline application for up to 95 homes for a site alongside the Broughton Bypass is set to win backing from Preston Council’s planning committee when it meets next week, despite objections to the scheme from the area’s MP.
The 11-acre site sits off Garstang Road, and borders the £32m Broughton Bypass, a new link road which completed in October 2017. It is currently open countryside, and sits outside the border of Broughton village under Preston’s Local Plan.
Gladman is proposing to keep around four acres of the site as open space, while 35% of the home son the site are designated as affordable. Access is proposed via Garstang Road.
The scheme has been recommended for the go-ahead by Preston’s planning officers when committee meets next week, despite a series of objections from local MP Ben Wallace, Broughton Parish Council, and local councillor Neil Cartwright.
The objections focus on the fact the land is not allocated for development under the council’s Local Plan, while Wallace argued the council could already demonstrate a three-year supply of housing land. Meanwhile, Cartwright raised issues over highway capacity, particularly along the A6 and where it meets the M55.
While planning officers admitted the principle of development would be contrary to the council’s core strategy, the council’s inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land means the proposals by Gladman should go ahead.
Planning officers said: “Given the site’s location adjacent to the existing village, it is considered the development would be located in a sustainable location within walking distance of existing facilities within the village.
“The proposed development would result in the loss of an existing field but the site is not of any notable landscape value in terms of its character and appearance and the impact of the proposal is therefore not considered to be significant.
“The proposed development would be acceptable in terms of its impact on visual and residential amenity, drainage, flooding, energy efficiency, air quality, ground conditions and waste management subject to the conditions imposed.
“The proposed development would not have a severe impact on the operation of the road network or an unacceptable impact on highway safety.”
The scheme is recommended for approval subject to a Section 106 agreement, featuring contributions towards education and future management of the site’s proposed open space.
If approved, this development makes a mockery of the localism act and is contradictory to the will of the local people in voting for a robust neighbourhood plan with established development sites appropriate to the scale of the village and its amenities. The tilted balance of planning committee recommendations will only prove to see the loss of valuable rural land, wildlife habitats and areas of separation with other local villages. As local residents, the community plead for common sense and request the local council to accept that housing targets have been met and that they have the tools in their armoury to reject this unsustainable and damaging application.
By Mr J Pye
This application is now recommended for refusal which is the right decision by the planning committee.
By John