Developer appeals rejected Broughton housing plans

A developer that has three times been refused permission to build a housing estate in the Preston countryside is making a fourth attempt to get the green light for the scheme.

Plans for the 75-dwelling development, off Whittingham Lane in Broughton, were most recently knocked back by Preston City Council in December.  

That decision – by the authority’s planning committee – is now being appealed against by the applicants behind the proposal, meaning a government inspector will have the final say following a public inquiry later this summer. 

Last year’s rejection was just the latest in a litany of refusals for the project, which had already been kicked out twice since 2018 – albeit in larger form, with 111 homes having been previously been proposed. 

The properties had been put forward for land south of the completed first tranche of the Broughton Park development – where 98 dwellings now stand – and were intended as the effective second half of that estate.

However, town hall planners recommended that councillors on the committee block the latest, slimmed-down, bid to build on the adjoining plot – because the blueprint was at odds with local planning policy banning large-scale development in the open countryside.  It was also considered that the plans would lead to the “unplanned expansion of a rural village”, conflicting with a Central Lancashire-wide planning strategy.   

Graham Love, the agent for applicants AAB Developments and Lester Developments,  stressed at the meeting where the decision was made that there were “very significant, high-priority benefits” from the fresh proposal – which included 60 percent of the homes being offered as discounted ‘affordable’ properties, almost double the minimum proportion demanded by the city council in rural areas.  He said that would help address an acknowledged “affordable housing crisis” in Preston.

The committee also heard that 40 percent of the dwellings would be reserved for older people, while 15 percent would be bungalows.

Mr. Love urged members to go against the recommendation of planning officers, telling them that the proposed estate should be considered “enclosed infill” between Broughton Park – which was delivered by Stewart Milne Homes and through which the new development would be accessed – and the M6.

“It will not affect the wider countryside,” he said.

However, the committee rejected the proposal – which had attracted 30 public objections – without debate. 

The first phase of Broughton Park was given the green light in September 2018, in spite of that part of the site also being in an area of open countryside.

However, when the decision was taken, the city authority was unable to show that it had enough land set aside to meet its new housing targets, as required by national planning rules.

That left the council obliged to permit housebuilding on plots where it would otherwise have been refused – unless there were significant downsides to doing so.

The land since eyed for phase 2 was itself provisionally approved in January 2019 for the very same reason. However, the implementation of that decision was put on hold because of the intervention of the area’s MP to request a government review – and was ultimately reversed in November 2020 after a raft of related planning appeals saw Preston’s minimum new housing numbers recalculated and reduced.

Phase 2 was again refused in August 2021 before being brought back before the committee in December 2025.

The inquiry hearing into the latter refusal is due to start on 21st July.  Public comments on the appeal can be made to the Planning Inspectorate via the organisation’s website, using the reference number 6008577.