Tree axing concern for golf homes in Preston

An amended planning application for 10 five and six bedroomed houses on a strip of unused land adjacent to the 128-year-old course has been submitted to the authority, three years after a similar scheme for 12 homes was approved.

It is due to go before the planning committee in the coming weeks and is expected to get the thumbs up, although a specialist in the council’s landscape team has voiced concern that the plan will cost more mature trees than it needs to.

A report from landscape architect John Gillman, which will be presented to the planning committee, says: “The character of the area will be considerably changed if this proposal is approved in its current form.

“The proposed site layout doesn’t seem to take on board the particular, unique character of the area and in my opinion does not relate well to its surroundings.

“In my view the dwellings could be made to fit better within the existing landscape layout without the need for wholesale tree clearance.”

Applicants Imperial Fairway Ltd say in their planning statement “the proposed development aims to utilise the unused space whilst retaining the key internal landscape and topographical features of the site, including established woodland and hedgerows, where appropriate.”

While the original plan was for 12 homes, the replacement is for 10 larger houses than were previously approved.