Resi rejected by Hyndburn

Gleeson’s plans for 85 homes off Blackburn Road in Oswaldtwistle have been refused, while a relief road to serve the emerging Huncoat Garden Village has been greenlit.

Working with Pegasus Group, Gleeson had proposed 85 homes on an irregularly shaped site to the west end of Oswaldtwistle, to the north of Blackburn Road and wrapping around the Moving People coach company yard.

The site is also close to Church & Oswaldtwistle Cricket Club and Accrington Golf Club.

As set out in the officer report ahead of the meeting, independent advisers to the council agreed with the viability assessment put forward by the application team that the proposal cannot viably support any financial contributions, including that to a signalised crossing seen as critical by Lancashire County Council’s highways team. No affordable housing is included.

Highways safety turned out to be the critical issue at the meeting, with several councillors voicing concerns over issues already apparent in the area.

More than 150 objections were received from the public, touching on such issues as the scheme being premature in light of the emerging Local Plan, scale, harm to landscape, and brownfield-first.

Several of those respondents cited Green Belt status, but that, as in many such cases, is something of a grey area – most of the site itself is not Green Belt, but the same cannot be said of the attenuation basins, service road, pumping station and fencing that would service the site.

Officers had recommended approval, summing up that “the application site predominantly relates to safeguarded land, which was always intended for residential development” – adding that although originally planned for the long-term, Hyndburn as it stands cannot demonstrate a five-year housing supply, making the location suitable.

Huncoat Lane Relief Road fared better.

The application site is a linear area measuring 26.2 acres east of the village of Huncoat, extending from Altham Lane in the north to a roundabout on Burnley Road (A679) to the south and located west of the Accrington Bypass (A56).

On the table is a 1.1km two-way carriageway, with cycle/footway alongside and bus stops, which would see a new arm added to the Burnley Road roundabout. The road will serve Huncoat Garden Village, Hyndburn’s strategic housing growth area and one expected to deliver 1,500 to 1,600 homes.

Arcadis and Avison Young have been among the professional team driving the garden village scheme, with £30m secured from Homes England in 2024. CPO powers were secured for the road project last summer, with Eric Wright Civil Engineering appointed on pre-0construction services.