Northstone plots 74 Lancaster homes

Set off Scotforth Road, the proposed neighbourhood would offer a mix of bungalows, apartments and houses.

Northstone, a subsidiary of Peel L&P, has submitted a reserved matters application for the development to Lancaster City Council. Outline planning permission had been granted in April 2021.

The application incorporates feedback from a consultation earlier this year on the project. Northstone has, accordingly, reduced the number of homes from 90 to 74. The developer also added bungalows into the housing mix and more walking and cycling routes.

Northstone has named the neighbourhood Breacla, which the company says means ‘a dapple day of sun and rain’ in Irish.

If built as planned, Breacla would have eight one-bed and four two-bed apartments. There would be two two-bed bungalows and five two-bed houses. Also on the docket: 16 three-bed houses, 20 four-bed dwellings, and 19 five-bed homes.

Of those 74 homes, 22 would be designated affordable.

All of the homes would have solar panels on the roofs and be of brick construction. Northstone plans to utilise a fabric-first approach on the development to make the homes more energy efficient. Homes will also utilise a wastewater heat recovery system and be built in such a way as to reduce material waste, according to Northstone.

Half of Breacla will be dedicated public space, including natural play areas, footpaths, a dedicated eco wetland area, and grassland. The development would have more than 195 trees as well.

“We said we’d set a high bar for new-build homes in Lancaster and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Bernadette Barry, development manager at Northstone.

“Not only do the submitted plans feature green initiatives – from open spaces and walking routes to extensive planting, hedgehog highways and plenty of bird and bat boxes – the homes and their setting have been designed to a really high standard.

“We want to actively challenge the perception of what new-build homes can be,” Barry continued.

“We’ve listened carefully to the community and the Council’s aspirations for the site, and are proud to submit a design that is sustainable, attractive and is a high-quality response to the need for more homes locally.”

• Northstone’s Bernadette Barry is speaking at Place RESI event on 13 October. Learn more.

Pegasus is the landscape architect for the project, which has NJL as the planning consultant. Other project team members include ecologist Baker Consultants, energy consultant Briary Energy, engineer Bryan G Hall, acoustic experts Hoare Lea, engineer Ironside Farrar & Coopers, arboricultural consultant JCA, and visualiser Our Studio.

If planning permission is granted, Northstone estimates that it could begin construction on the project in early 2023.

Breacla is one of several schemes Northstone is working on at the moment. The housebuilder launched a consultation for 450 homes in Salford in May, submitted plans for 208 homes in Bolton in April, and began work on 268 homes in Wigan in December.

Plans for Breacla have not yet been validated on the Lancaster City Council planning portal.