Verdict in on 'the last place in Preston where you should build houses'
Controversial plans to build almost 100 homes on a former farm on the outskirts of Preston have been kicked out by councillors – more than five years after they were first proposed.
It is the third time an attempt to develop part of the Swainson House Farm plot in Goosnargh has been rejected.
Preston City Council’s planning committee once again refused permission for the proposed 95 properties, off Goosnargh Lane, after hearing that the authority now has enough land set aside to meet its new housing targets.
That had not been the case just a month ago when committee members were advised by council planning officers to approve the scheme in order to bridge what was then a shortfall in its housing land supply over the next five years – the minimum period which local authorities are expected to be able to cover.
A failure to do so means councils are often obliged to approve developments even on sites where local policies would usually prevent them – including areas designated open countryside, like Swain House Farm.
However, a decision could not be taken last month after a declaration of interest from one committee member – coupled with a poor turnout – meant there were not enough councillors present to reach a verdict on the proposal.
Since then, an update to Preston’s housing land figures means the authority can now demonstrate a 6.7-year supply.
The plans had attracted dozens of public objections, including over traffic concerns – and Whittingham parish councillor David Price told the committee that the site was at the bottom of the “hierarchy” for housebuilding.
“It is literally the last place where a development site should be permitted,” Cllr Price said. “The impact would be huge.”
However, Helen Leggett, the agent for the application, urged the committee to consider “the wider societal benefits” of the blueprint.
She said the estate would include affordable housing and warned that the five-year supply figure was “a minimum and not a ceiling”.
“It should not act as an automatic barrier to sustainable, well-designed developments, especially when they address a local need,” Ms. Leggett said.
Committee member Lynne Brooks questioned whether the development might “tip [Goosnargh] over” from being a village into a town, but Ms. Leggett said it had been established that that would not be the case at a previous public inquiry.
That inquiry, the outcome of which was published in 2022, heard appeals against the city council’s refusal of a total of six developments in and around Goosnagh, totalling 557 homes.
The only one to be overturned was for 40 properties on another part of the disused Swainson House Farm – where the renowned Goosnargh Duck used to be reared – which are now under construction.
The refusals of the rest – including the scheme on the other section of the farm, which was originally for 87 homes – were all upheld after council argued their “cumulative impact” would have harmed the character of the village.
The reason the smaller of the two farm developments was allowed was because the inspector who chaired the inquiry concluded that the replacement of unsightly agricultural buildings on the approach to Goosnargh would remove their “negative visual effect on the area”.
The city council’s planning committee had originally approved both of the proposed Swainson House Farm plans in November 2019 when it was once again unable to show it had a five-year housing land supply, but then revisited – and reversed – its decision early the following year when the situation changed.
A formal decision notice on the proposal had not been issued at that point, thereby enabling the authority to shift its stance.