South Ribble garden village plan refused

A controversial bid to build up to 1,300 homes on farmland in South Ribble has been kicked out by councillors – with one of them condemning the planned development as “an absolute crime”.

The proposed ‘Cuerdale Garden Village’ would have seen 159 hectares of greenbelt – to the east of the M6 in Samlesbury – given over to a sprawling development incorporating not just housing, but also industrial and commercial units, a new primary school, local shopping centre, green space and a park-and-ride facility into Preston.

However, the scheme, which was intended to extend across five parcels of land – four to the south of the A59 Preston New Road and the other on the northern side of the busy route – attracted 1,250 public objections and was recommended for refusal by South Ribble Borough council planning officials.

Members of the authority’s planning committee agreed, rejecting the blueprint at a meeting which heard emotive speeches from some of those opposed.

However, Story Homes – the lead applicant for the project – cautioned councillors against making what it suggested was a procedurally dubious decision that had not allowed time for full consideration of the most up-to-date version of the plans.

The firm has since told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it is considering its “next steps” – seemingly hinting at the possibility of an appeal to the independent Planning Inspectorate.

Council planning officers put forward eight reasons for refusing the garden village vision – including that it was deemed “inappropriate development in the greenbelt”, devoid of the “very special circumstances” that would be required under national legislation to justify it.

The scheme – the prospect of which prompted locals to organise a ‘go-slow’ tractor protest on the streets when it was first submitted in 2022 – would also have an “adverse urbanising influence on the landscape”, the committee was told.

However, for one of the objectors who addressed the meeting, the case for refusal was a far more personal one.

Richard Eastham – one of three tenant farmers who currently work the land being eyed for development – said his grandparents had started farming the site 80 years ago and that he wanted to keep his current dairy operation going for decades to come.

With his voice threatening to break at times, he said:  “I am proud to… produce food that is sold throughout the Ribble Valley and beyond.

“Local food for local people – low carbon, low food miles.  It’s what we, as farmers, have been told to produce for years now and what we are achieving in Samlesbury – and what South Ribble should be proud of,” said Mr. Eastham, who runs Walmsley Fold Farm.

Samlesbury and Cuerdale Parish Council chair Graham Young lamented “the permanent decimation of over 220 Premier League football pitches of greenbelt, lost for an eternity”, while Samlesbury and Walton ward councillor Jasmine Gleave urged the committee to block what she said amounted to an “assault” on the countryside.

Local resident Graham Birkby added that the proposal – which was opposed by 98 percent of those who voted in a neighbourhood referendum on the issue four years ago – was “precisely the type of development the plan-led system is designed to resist”.

That was a reference to the fact that the land is not allocated for building upon either in the current South Ribble local plan or the Central Lancashire-wide strategy that is due to supersede it. The documents respectively dictate where development is – and will be – permitted to take place.

However, that proved a point of contention for Story Homes’ John Winstanley, who stressed that the Central Lancashire Local Plan (CLLP) was far from finalised.

Noting concerns raised by a government planning inspector about the soundness of the draft document, the firm’s managing director of strategic land said it would be “premature to draw a conclusion that Cuerdale Garden Village is not needed” – and that doing so could leave the borough without sufficient land set aside to meet its future housing and employment needs.

South Ribble, Preston and Chorley councils are currently preparing a response to the issues raised by the inspector, which will determine whether the joint plan for the three areas can be adopted, as scheduled, by the end of the year.

Notwithstanding the outcome of that process, Mr. Winstanley said the garden village – half of whose residential properties would fall into the discounted ‘affordable homes’ category – would be perfectly positioned alongside the new National Cyber Force headquarters at Samlesbury and was key to “regional economic growth”.

He also requested that any decision be deferred until 19th June at the earliest, claiming that the meeting had been convened too soon to enable the committee to “consider the most up-to-date responses” from the developer and the statutory organisations that have to be consulted.   Mr. Winstanley said those organisations had all indicated that “subject to further time, it would be possible to address any…concerns”.   Those included road safety issues raised by National Highways, about which councillors were told “insufficient information” had been provided.

However, the council’s planning manager, Catherine Thomas, reminded the committee that four years had passed since the first iteration of the proposal had been lodged, which she described as “an extremely lengthy period for the applicant to seek to address any outstanding issues”.

“We feel that it is appropriate to determine the application at this point, given the length of time that the application has been under consideration,” Ms. Thomas added.

Committee member Cllr Haydn Williams blasted the blueprint for being “as preposterous now as it was then”.

He added: “The proposal to defer [the decision] is not going to get over [the] fundamental principle that this development is totally wrong for this area.  It would completely destroy a massive area of this borough – for what?

“Any economic growth and jobs are welcome, but the current and emerging development plan that we’ve got takes care of all that.  And let’s not pretend that the so-called benefits of this scheme are provided for some altruistic reason.

“This is probably the biggest example I can think of of corporate greed – companies and developers [being] quite content to destroy a huge area of open countryside for their own benefit.”

Fellow committee member Cllr Mary Green said that to “decimate” the countryside location – in the way she claimed was being proposed – would be “an absolute crime”.

Meanwhile, Cllr Keith Martin drew a distinction between the “affordable” housing pledged by the applicant and the more heavily-discounted “social” homes that he said were actually needed in South Ribble.

After around 90 minutes of debate in front of a packed public gallery, the committee unanimously rejected the application – to appreciative applause from the audience.

VANISHING VILLAGE 

At an earlier stage of the development of the Central Lancashire Local Plan, the proposed Cuerdale Garden Village site was considered for exactly the type of scheme that Story Homes – together with co-applicants Parkway House and Chorley Business and Technology Park – has since proposed.

However, the volume of objections that it attracted as part of a public consultation into potential plots for development resulted in the location being dropped from the final list included in the document, which – once it gets the green light from the inspector – will direct where building happens through to the early 2040s. 

No other greenbelt sites have been released for development as part of the local plan process.

REFUSAL REACTION 

Speaking to the LDRS after the meeting, parish council chair Graham Young said the “true passion and emotion” of those who spoke out against the proposal had shone through at the committee gathering.

Also thanking South Ribble Borough Council for its decision, he added:  “This is a great result for all the residents,but also the wildlife and future food production on this ‘green and pleasant land’.

“A massive thank you to all the people who supported  [the campaign] and were unable to gain access [to the meeting].   Your presence was noted by the chairman…and I was humbled by the turnout.”

However, a spokesperson for Story Homes said the firm was “disappointed” by the outcome, “particularly given the significant time and resource invested in bringing forward a scheme developed in collaboration and submitted at the request of the council”.

“This is a transformational opportunity to deliver up to 1,300 homes, including 50 percent affordable housing, which is vital to a council that has 2,000 households on the housing register. This is alongside a £475m productivity boost to Lancashire, £376m of which will be directly into the borough, enabling South Ribble to seize the economic opportunity of the National Cyber Force in a sustainable location, fulfilling the immediate need while encouraging further defence clustering, unlocking growth and creating jobs.

“We remain concerned that key consultation responses were received late in the process and that the full benefits of the scheme were not fully reflected in the decision-making process. We are now reviewing the decision and considering our next steps,” the spokesperson concluded.

VILLAGE VISION

Cuerdale Garden Village had proposed:

***up to 1,300 new homes;

***up to 164,000 square metres of employment floorspace – including storage and industrial;

• a new local centre, featuring 2,000 square metres of retail, hospitality and community use;

***a new two-form entry, 420-place primary school and sports facilities;

***a 500-space park and ride facility

***59 hectares of ‘strategic green infrastructure’ – including playing pitches and other forms of open space, woodland and natural/semi-natural green

space, allotments and areas for biodiversity enhancement.