Story Homes reveal 330-home estate plan for former farm site in this Lancashire town

Story Homes have made a screening request to West Lancashire Borough Council for a 12.3 hectare parcel of land at Yew Tree Farm, Burscough.

A screening request advises whether certain impact assessments are required to be submitted with a planning application, and the applicants agent, Litchfields, suggest it is not necessary in this case.

What’s proposed?

The site comprises of agricultural land divided into two fields, close to the Fun Arena play centre. Litchfields say the 330 homes would be a mix of homes from 1 to 6 bedroom detached, semi-detached, mews and apartments. The buildings will be no more than two and a half storeys in height and affordable housing would be provided on site at 35 per cent, in line with adopted Local Plan Policy.

Vehicular access to the site would be provided from the road stub on the northern boundary constructed from the Yew Tree Park development; with further access provided onto Dakota Way from the eastern boundary. There would be landscaped residential roads with homes fronting onto them, and to the north are proposed areas for SuDS (sustainable drainage), a pumping station and sub-station along with areas of public open space including a green corridor along the northern boundary.

The area

The wider Yew Tree Farm area is a housing allocation site, with several areas already underway or completed. Litchfields state the new proposal would ‘infill’ a currently undeveloped site set within an existing built up area surrounded by other residential properties and commercial development.

They say: “In that context it is unlikely to give rise to a significant urbanising effect as the location is already largely built up in character. The proposed number of dwellings will make an important contribution to addressing local needs but is not of a scale considered in its own right that is likely to give rise to significant environmental effects.”