No affordable homes on Preston housing site after blunder

Plans had been approved in outline for the homes off Eastway in Preston two years ago, but an error by Town Hall chiefs meant the condition demanding 30 per cent affordable housing was not included in the final decision.

Now details including the appearance and layout of the development have been agreed, but councillors were unable to rectify the mistake.

Chris Hayward, the council’s director of development, said action had been taken to try to stop such an error happening again.

He said: “This was a matter for the outline planning application.

“The omission of that requirement, due to an error, can’t be rectified at this stage.

“It’s not something that’s happened before, it’s not happened since, we have reviewed our processes to minimise the likelihood of this happening again.

“The land owner and the applicant have offered to make a payment of £150,000 towards the council’s affordable housing fund as a good will gesture, and the council will ensure it uses that money.

“This is for information only, and should not be a factor in determining the application.”

The application for appearance, landscaping, layout and scale, submitted by Barratt Homes, was approved at the latest planning committee meeting.

Members were told Barratt Homes was not involved at the outline application stage.