Flood fears halt village estate near Chorley decision

Councillors have demanded more evidence to show that plans for dozens of new homes in a Chorley village will not increase the risk of flooding – before they decide whether to approve the development.

Chorley Council’s planning committee was considering a bid to build 58 ‘affordable’ properties on a greenbelt site off Moor Road in Croston.

The authority’s planning officers had recommended members give the go-ahead to the blueprint on the basis that the former agricultural plot should be reclassified as ‘grey belt’ – meaning it could be built upon.

That judgement hinged on the fact that Chorley Council cannot currently demonstrate a five-year supply of land to meet its new housing needs, as required by national planning policy.

However, councillors heard a raft of claimed reasons why the scheme should nevertheless be rejected. More than 450 public objections were lodged to the Breck Homes proposal – along with fears about flooding, concerns included the purported overdevelopment of the area, road safety issues and pressure on local services.

South Ribble MP Paul Foster – whose constituency covers Croston – said he would never usually address the committee on a specific planning application, but had been compelled to do so because the one on the table would have “a hugely negative impact on the entire community”.

He also stressed that the five-year land supply issue could be just “days” away from being resolved if and and when the Planning Inspectorate approves the new Central Lancashire Local Plan that will dictate housing numbers across Chorley, South Ribble and Preston for the next 15 years.

Regardless of the outcome of that process, Mr. Foster said the current storm water and sewage network did not have sufficient “capacity” for additional housing.

“Croston cannot cope,” he told members.

Almost 350 properties properties in the village were flooded on Boxing Day back in 2015, the worst in a series of incidents which culminated in a £7m flood barrier being installed.

Meanwhile, the vice-chair of Croston Parish Council, John Forrest, said traffic jams were “a daily occurrence” in the village and warned that the entrance to the proposed estate was on “a slight bend” on a stretch of road where the 30mph speed limit was routinely flouted.

However, Leon Armstrong, the agent for the application said the affordable nature of the planned development should be given “significant weight” by the committee.

Forty-six of the dwellings are intended for social rent – meaning they would be available at around 50 percent of local market rates – while the other 12 would be available for shared ownership.

Mr. Armstrong said the scheme would “offer hope to all those on a waiting list for affordable homes”.

“Local lettings data has [shown] there were 619 applicants for a single three-bed property in Croston recently,” he told the committee.

He added that the Environment Agency was satisfied that the development would be “safe from flooding and…will not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere”.

He said the proposed surface water drainage system for the site – which features attenuation tanks that would slowly release excess water – has been designed to ensure that discharge rates are “no more” than they would be from a green field.

The site falls largely within the lowest-risk flood zone 1 – but the southern area, where no housing will be built, straddles flood zones 2 and 3, the later being the maximum on the risk scale.

As the lead local flood authority, Lancashire County Council had offered no objection to the estate, while water firm United Utilities said it was satisfied with the “principle” of the surface water drainage measures, details of which were to be presented to the council for approval before work began.

However, concern over flooding became the issue around which the committee’s opposition to the proposal coalesced.

Cllr Lesley Durose, raised the prospect of the potential cumulative impact on flood risk of the 350 homes due to be built on the former Camelot site in Charnock Richard, “upstream” of Croston.

She noted that in spite of its flood defences, Croston had flooded as recently as New Year’s Day 2025 – and she said this should be considered as part of an up-to-date assessment of flood risk.

“The committee should require clear, current and independent evidence demonstrating that the loss of this flood plain will not reduce necessary flood water storage,” Cllr Durose added.

Fellow committee member – and Chorley Council’s cabinet member for planning – Alex Hilton said he wanted to see upfront the “further information” on drainage that was otherwise due to be provided only after permission had been granted.

The committee voted unanimously to defer its decision until further drainage plan details were made available.