New homes to be built on former allotments

A patch of land once used as allotments is set to be redeveloped as new homes.

Taylor Developments has been given the go ahead to build 18 houses and 10 duplex apartments on the 1.35 acre site in Liverpool Road, Padiham.

The outline proposal – the second for the plot – was given planning permission by Burnley Council’s development control committee on Thursday.

A planning officer’s report recommended that the development be approved subject to 22 conditions and a financial contribution towards highways, including upgrading the traffic lights controlled junction on Liverpool Road.

It also says the developer must agree to include three affordable homes in the new housing.

The approval was granted despite eight objections from nearby residents on grounds including that access onto Liverpool Road would be dangerous given proximity of neighbouring school; the development will increase traffic; loss of greenspace; impact on bats and valuable wildlife habitat; increased air pollution from additional cars; noise pollution from new houses; over development of the site; and lack of local services.

The report says: “The application relates to an undeveloped piece of land, historically used as allotments, of approximately 1.35 acres, which is located within Padiham.

“The applicant has applied for outline permission with all matters reserved for up to 18 dwellings and 10 duplex apartments with associated works.

“Although the applicant has provided indicative plans of a development, as all matters are reserved, this application can only consider the amount of development proposed and not its access, scale, appearance, layout or landscaping which would be considered as part of a subsequent reserved matters application if this application were to be approved.

“Concerns were also raised in a number of responses that the scheme was a resubmission of a scheme refused by the local planning authority and dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

“It should be noted that whilst the application was dismissed by the Inspector this did not relate to the council’s reason for refusal and was because the applicant did not provide a S106 agreement to secure policy compliant contributions.

“In paragraph 11 of the Inspector’s report, he found that the proposal, being residential development, could be appropriate for the site and its surroundings.

“This is a material planning consideration which must be taken account of in any decision.”

“The application proposes a residential scheme which would be compatible with the mixture of residential and commercial uses within the surrounding area.”