Homes proposals for north west Preston rejected by council

An outline application for up to 58 homes off Tabley Lane, Bartle, was considered by Preston Council’s planning committee.

Officers said the plans should be refused over traffic concerns and fears of “piecemeal development”, with councillors sharing their worries.

Committee chairman Coun Brian Rollo said he agreed the proposal was “piecemeal”, and said: “I can very well see an application for this site could easily come forward in future when the spine road is completed and the land to the south is completed.

“As it happens, if we gave this permission we could end up with a small hamlet off Tabley Lane, and if the houses to the south never came forward we would be stuck with that forever.

“On that basis I can’t see any reason for us to approve this yet.”

A report said the proposed development, through the creation of a new vehicular access to Tabley Lane, would increase traffic and would be against wider planning principles to eventually downgrade or even close Tabley Lane to vehicles.

It also said it would constitute “piecemeal development”, and wouldn’t follow the principles of sustainable development and connectivity set out within the masterplan for the area.

It said the masterplan envisaged the land to be brought forward “comprehensively” with land to the south, with access ultimately from the proposed East West Link Road and not Tabley Lane.

Officer Chris Blackburn said the benefits of the scheme were considered to be outweighed by the failure to comply with policies.