House numbers reduced in major new development

Approved plans reveal 74 homes will be created rather than the 116 that had previously been agreed

Dozens fewer homes than originally anticipated will be built alongside a major new industrial, leisure and retail development in central Lancashire.

Planning permission was granted almost two years ago for the development at Cuerden in South Ribble, close to where the M6 and M65 meet.

The vast majority of the plot will be given over to logistics, storage and office space, as well as retail units, food and drink outlets, a leisure centre, gym and creche.

A section of the site between Stanifield Lane and Old School Lane - opposite the new Lancashire Cricket ground that is under construction - was reserved for up to 116 homes, but approved plans reveal only 74 houses will be built.

'Affordable housing concerns'

Lancashire County Council planning officer Rob Hope said the original number had been considered "quite ambitious" because of other demands on the plot, including the need for open space and planting.

The estate has been given the green light by the authority's development control committee which granted outline permission for the wider 2.5 hectare (six acre) site in December 2023.

It was once earmarked for an IKEA store until the furniture giant backed out of the plans seven years ago.

However, several committee members expressed concern that none of the now reduced number of dwellings would be offered at discounted affordable housing rates.

Councillor Martyn Sutton said smaller two-bed properties in that category were what the area was "crying out for", rather than the three and four-bed detached and semi-detached homes that had been proposed.

The meeting hearing the application heard that the developer had successfully argued the estate - which will include open space and a children's play area - would not be financially viable if it were forced to provide housing officially classed as affordable.

It emerged late last year that land to the south of the site had been purchased by the NHS with a view to it being the location for the new Royal Preston Hospital.

However, that vision has since been pushed back into the early 2040s, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.