Lancashire Central scheme remains at pre-development stage

There are not yet any confirmed tenants for a major industrial, retail and leisure development planned for South Ribble – almost two-and-a-half years after it was given the green light.

The ‘Lancashire Central’ scheme was devised by Lancashire County Council for a site at Cuerden, which was once earmarked for a new IKEA store.

The blueprint for the project – on land close to where the M6 and M65 motorways meet – was granted planning permission in December 2023, just over five years after the furniture retailer ditched its vision for the plot.

The local authority – and joint applicant Maple Grove Developments – claimed that the new plans would create up to 5,600 full-time jobs and inject an extra £390m into the local economy once the site was complete, which was then due to be in seven years’ time.

A proposed five-phase construction timetable was set out – with three of the stages due to have started in 2023/24 and the remaining two planned for 2027 and 2028.

However, building work is yet to begin and the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) can reveal the scheme officially remains at the “pre-development” stage while a search for would-be occupiers continues.

The outcome of that process will ultimately determine exactly what will be built and where  – because the planning approval secured in 2023 was only in outline form.

At the time, the county council’s own independent development control committee, which gave the green light to the proposal, heard that an indicative 174,000 square metres of industrial, storage and office space would be created – along with retail units, food and drink outlets, a drive-through restaurant, car showrooms, a leisure centre, gym, health facility, crèche and a new housing estate.

Further permission will have to be sought once more detailed specifics emerge for the near half-mile wide site, which runs from the A49 Wigan Road in the east to Stanifield Lane in the west, opposite the soon-to-open new Lancashire Cricket ground.

Development control committee members who decided to approve the Lancashire Central application – upon the casting vote of its then chair – were told that it was normal for the shape of such a major scheme to be only loosely defined at the outset.

Since permission was granted, details of how some parts of the 65-hectare plot could be developed have crystallised.  The housing element – in the north west corner of the site, between Stanifield Lane and Old School Lane – was granted full permission last October for up to 74 dwellings, to be built by Rowland Homes. That is a reduction from the 116 that were expected to be accommodated at the outline stage – and which were due have been completed last year according to the development timetable.

Meanwhile, last month, the NHS completed the purchase of a tranche of the land which had been identified as the preferred location for a new Royal Preston Hospital.    It initially bought the 29 percent of the site that was not in Lancashire County Council’s control from property specialist Brookhouse Group in December 2024, before acquiring a portion from the local authority totalling 26 acres – which would be required in order to deliver the £2bn health facility.

However, the hospital’s location remains subject to the outcome of a future public consultation – and, in any case, the government’s current timetable means building work would not begin until between 2037 and 2039, pushing the opening date into the early-mid 2040s.

Asked by the LDRS about progress on Lancashire Central, Simon Lawrence, director of growth and property at Lancashire County Council, said:

“The wider Lancashire Central site remains allocated for employment‑led development, with the county council working with its development partner, Maple Grove Developments, in line with the agreed planning framework. Any future proposals would be subject to the appropriate planning and approval processes.”

“The site has been brought to the commercial market and is currently in the pre‑development phase. Maple Grove Developments, is currently engaging with potential occupiers – and a development programme will be provided in due course once confirmed.”