Fight against 1,100 rural homes 'over' - council

Permission to build on the Pickering’s Farm site in Penwortham was rejected in 2020 and 2021

A five-year battle against controversial plans to build 1,100 homes in rural Lancashire looks to be over after it emerged that the legal process to challenge it had been exhausted.

Locals in Penwortham have long campaigned against a proposed development of the Pickering's Farm site, with South Ribble Council twice refusing it permission due to highways concerns.

In November last year, the housing secretary gave the Taylor Wimpey development the go-ahead after a planning inquiry.

The council has now been told there is "no legal recourse" open to appeal that decision.

South Ribble Borough Council leader, Paul Foster, says he's "devastated" for the local community

South Ribble Borough Council leader, Paul Foster, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Basically, we’ve been royally stitched up.

“The only way we can appeal is…if we can find that [the] legal process hasn’t been followed."

He said he was "devastated for the local community".

Planning permission for the development – on land between Penwortham Way and Leyland Road – was rejected in 2020 and 2021, by the council.

However, the developer and the government’s housing agency Homes England – the applicants behind the proposal – appealed to a planning inspector.

In a rare move, the government stepped in and said that it would make the final decision after a nine-day public inquiry into the plans.

'Royally stitched up'

The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) revealed that the inspector had found permission should be granted and ministers agreed.

Planning Inspector, Patrick Hanna, rubbished much of the basis for a roads-based objection and questioned the statement that the effect of the Pickering’s Farm plans on the road network would be severe.

Mr Foster said: “Basically the inspector is saying, yes, we know that the roads are already log-jammed and congested beyond anything that’s deemed reasonable, but adding another 1,100 properties…won’t make it any more severe, [because] it already is severe.

“That, to me, is nonsensical – it’s like saying we know that a river is flooding, so if we add a little more water, it’s just going to flood a bit worse.”

'Hugely worthwhile'

The DLUHC said there was a footnote included within the Pickering’s Farm decision notice regarding the circumstances in which the outcome could still be challenged.

In his report, Mr Hanna said: “The provision of 1,100 new homes, of which 330 would be affordable homes, for which there is an acute and pressing need, is a hugely worthwhile public benefit in its own right.”

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