Appeal allowed for village homes

Preston Council did not fight the appeal against their refusal of up to 72 homes in countryside off Garstang Road in Barton, after it emerged the authority did not have a five-year supply of housing land.

Councillors had unanimously turned down the application after officers deemed it inappropriate, and said it would lead to the “unplanned and inappropriate expansion of a rural village”.

But developer Wainhomes North West appealed against the decision, and that appeal has been allowed.

Leaders at Preston Council have now written to Sajid Javid MP, secretary of state for communities and local government, over their fears around the five-year housing land supply.

Deputy council leader Coun John Swindells signed the letter alongside councillors Peter Rankin, Pauline Brown and Neil Cartwright.

He said: “We’ve given lots of planning permissions and we are virtually at the point now where it’s impossible to make up the backlog.
“People are not building them and, although there are enough houses being given permission, we are being told when we are going to appeal that we haven’t got a five-year supply.

“We are asking that they take into account the number of planning permissions that have been granted, not just the actual houses that are being built.”

The inspector’s decision report for the Barton homes appeal said: “I have found that the proposed development would be contrary to the development plan in terms of its location and would result in moderate harm to the rural character and appearance of the area.

“Balanced against this is the contribution to the supply of housing of up to 72 new homes with 35 per cent of those affordable, to which I have given significant weight.”