Developers rejected on second Preston village site

The city council’s planning committee on Thursday blocked a Wainhomes application for land adjacent to Cardwell Farm between Barton and Broughton.

The decision followed the committee’s rejection of a separate development bid for 130 houses at Key Fold Farm, also on Garstang Road (A6), last month.

For more about the Key Fold Farm bid, click hereThe Cardwell Farm application included outline details for 55 houses with new access from Woodlands Way.

Planning officers said the proposal would lead to an “unplanned and inappropriate expansion of a rural village” and recommended it should be rejected.

Committee members unanimously agreed with the report’s direction.

No representatives featured at the planning meeting to speak either for or against the bid but the report revealed 41 objection letters were sent to the town hall.

Concerns about congestion along the A6 and the fact the bid would be in addition to the City Deal housing developments, were among the issues highlighted.

Barton Parish Council said the development would “detract from the rural character of the village.”

Its objection letter added: “This development would lead to a substantial loss of tract of open countryside outside the defined settlement boundary for Barton Village, creating a sprawl of development...which would significantly detract from the rural character of the village.”

Emery Planning,on behalf of Wainhomes, had claimed the proposed development was on “a logical site that would relate well to the overall settlement pattern of Barton”.