Traffic fears over new Preston estate on busy route into the city

Preston City Council’s planning committee gave the green light to a 37-dwelling development of mostly semi-detached properties on land surrounding the headquarters of the Deafway charity off Brockholes Brow (A59).

The homes – and the charity – will be accessed via a new entrance to be created on Glenluce Drive, replacing the existing entry point to the site which lies directly at the junction between the side street and the main road.

According to a traffic assessment provided by developer Imperial Fairway Limited as part of their application, the new arrangement – which will include improvements to the junction itself – will “provide safer conditions for all traffic”.

However, Ribbleton ward councillor Jonathan Saksena said that a separate claim made in the document that the development would have a “very low impact” on the surrounding road network showed that its author had only a “superficial” knowledge of the area.

“As anyone who uses this road at peak times knows, the A59 invariably comes to a standstill with a queue of traffic stretching from the Samlesbury bridge to the Hesketh Arms roundabout and even beyond.

“To add still more vehicles would simply lengthen the queues – not only on the main road, but also the side streets. During the morning peak, it is impossible to turn right out of either Thirlmere Road or Farringdon Close due to the solid stream of stationary or slow-moving traffic.

“Thirlmere Road is the access road to a primary school, nursery and social services hub. All this traffic has to turn left so that they can face the right direction by going around the motorway junction,” said Cllr Saksena.

He added that while the proposed new access was better than the current entrance, it was “still a blind corner – and there could be a problem with hearing-impaired pedestrians coming from Deafway not being aware of approaching traffic until it’s too late”.

The meeting also heard that the traffic assessment claimed that there had been no significant accidents on the A59 in the vicinity, in spite of a crash which killed two young women back in 2017.

A petition with 47 signatories has been lodged objecting the proposed development.

However, principal planning officer James Mercer said that the authority had to be guided by the conclusion of highways bosses at Lancashire County Council that the estimated additional 18/19 peak-time vehicle movements as a result of the development would not have a “severe impact”.

The developer has not been required to provide any affordable housing as part of the estate – nor a contribution to its creation elsewhere in the city – after a viability assessment concluded that the firm will incur “abnormal costs” in clearing the site and creating suitable foundations for the properties. It was accepted by the council that works would push the profit margin on the estate to 13 percent – just below the 15 percent threshold which national guidance dictates is the level at which a site can be considered viable.

However, the developer has agreed to reassess that position after the sale of the first 10 properties.

Mr. Mercer told the committee: “It’s not ideal – I’d much rather have the contribution up front and secure it now, but we feel that this is the next best option to at least try and get some affordable housing contribution off this site, rather than just accepting [that it] isn’t viable and letting it go.”

The meeting also heard that there will be a two-metre buffer between the new estate and surrounding woodland.

The application was approved unanimously. Imperial Fairway Limited said that it had no comment to make on the decision or the issues raised at the meeting.