The Lanes, Penwortham

A key part of the Central Lancashire City Deal

The Lanes, Penwortham, has been earmarked for major development since the year 2000 and is allocated as a Major Site for Development within South Ribble Borough Council’s Local Plan. It is also a key part of the Central Lancashire City Deal, a 10 year infrastructure delivery programme which aims to increase the size of the economy by £1 billion. As part of the City Deal, the site has been identified as a preferred location to help deliver some of the 7,000 new homes required by the council between now and the end of the Local Plan period in 2026.

February 2000

The Lanes was designated as Safeguarded Land in the South Ribble Local Plan in February 2000. The Local Plan designated Safeguarded Land to meet the longer term development needs of the Borough.

July 2012

The Lanes was identified as a Strategic Location in the Central Lancashire Core Strategy in July 2012. The area was identified as strategic significance because of its ability to significantly contribute to South Ribbles infrastructure and housing requirements.

September 2013

City Deal Status is a national initiative introduced by the Government as a way of targeting economic growth in key cities across the country. The Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal was agreed and signed in September 2013.

City Deal Key Facts:

• The City Deal Partners are the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Central Government, Lancashire County Council, Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council and Homes England.
• The City Deal is a ten year infrastructure delivery programme. It is funded through local and national private and public sector resources. The private sector contributes through Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and other developer contributions. The public sector contributes through a number of ways including retaining the value uplift from land sales by Homes England.

The City Deal will generate:

• More than 20,000 new private sector jobs;
• Nearly £1 billion growth in Gross Value Added;
• 17,420 new homes; and
• £2.3 billion in leveraged commercial investment.

• The City Deal will see investment pumped into South Ribble, resulting in new roads, better public transport, improved public spaces and reduced congestion. Required infrastructure to support population growth, such as new schools and health centres, will also be provided.

• A City Deal Infrastructure Delivery Programme and City Deal Investment Fund have been established by the City Deal Partners which together are worth £450m over the lifetime of the Deal. 

• The site has been identified as a preferred site to support the planned economic growth and help deliver the 17,000 new homes.

July 2015

The site was formally allocated as a Major Site for Development in the South Ribble Local Plan adopted in July 2015. It is referred to as Pickering’s Farm within this document but is referred to as The Lanes, Penwortham, by the development team.

What is an Allocated Site?

An allocated site confirms that the principle of development for which the land is allocated for is acceptable. Policies are provided in Local Plans which support the future development of the allocated site.

Why is the site allocated for Major New development?

South Ribble Borough Council has identified a requirement for up to 7,000 new homes between now and 2026 across the Borough. The Lanes has been identified as a Major Development Site which can deliver up to 1,350 new homes.

Summer 2018

Taylor Wimpey and Homes England announce a visioning consultation on the proposals, including two consultation events which were attended by over 200 people. In total, 25,000 visited the project website to view the plans and the feedback collected helps the development team to shape the emerging draft Masterplan.

November 2018

South Ribble Borough Council’s Planning Committee endorses the draft Masterplan and approves the development team’s request to begin a second round of consultation on the draft Masterplan.

November 2018

The draft Masterplan consultation begins.

Next Steps

The draft Masterplan consultation ran until Friday 4 January 2019. The development team is now reviewing the feedback collected and will use this information to help us shape the final Masterplan. This document will then be submitted to South Ribble Council for adoption in Spring 2019. An outline planning application will also be submitted for the site to secure the proposed development uses and access points. The approval of this application will be followed by the submission of reserved matters applications and it is expected that the first homes could be built in 2021.

Illustrative street scene of The Lanes

Constraints and opportunities

In order to inform the draft Masterplan for The Lanes, a range of environmental considerations have been taken into account prepared by an experienced technical team, commissioned by Taylor Wimpey and Homes England.

The initial baseline reports produced to inform the Masterplan process have been uploaded to this website so that any interested party can view this information.

It is proposed that a planning application for a residential-led development on the part of the site allocated as a Major Site for Development in the adopted South Ribble Local Plan will be submitted in May 2019. The planning application will be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA will be submitted voluntarily and will contain both the baseline assessments and a suite of detailed technical assessments which will put forward mitigation measures, where required, to offset any significant environmental impacts. These mitigation measures will be proposed as part of the planning application.

An EIA Scoping Request was submitted to South Ribble Borough Council on 14 November 2018. The purpose of this exercise is to agree with the Local Planning Authority what the EIA should contain and what environmental assessments are required (the scope of the EIA). South Ribble Borough Council has now provided a Scoping Opinion which we will follow as our plans for the development progress.

Noise

Noise surveys have been undertaken to predict the road and rail traffic noise levels in the area. The results show that it will be necessary to incorporate good acoustic design into the design for areas bordering the roads and this will therefore be adopted by those delivering homes on this site.

Ecology and trees

A Phase 1 Habitat Survey, Hedgerow Regulations Assessment and protected species surveys have been undertaken to identify any ecological constraints present on the site. No evidence of great crested newts, badgers or water voles was found during the surveys and the site is considered to be unsuitable for reptiles. The remainder of the site is considered to have low ecological value and, therefore there are significant opportunities to enhance the site for local wildlife. This enhancement will be achieved through the delivery of ‘biocorridors’ throughout. Furthermore, numerous trees within the site have been deemed of such quality that they should retain untouched. You can find out more about this within the Masterplan document.

Air Quality

The site is not located within close proximity to an Air Quality Management Area. As the proposed residential units are not located immediately adjacent to Penwortham Way, or 30m from the railway line, it is not expected that future residents will be exposed to elevated pollutant concentrations.

Heritage

Heritage surveys have found that no Designated Heritage Assets located on the site. There are therefore no barriers to development identified which would preclude the site from being developed in line with planning policy requirements.

Flood Risk and Drainage

The site is in an area identified as having a ‘low’ probability of flooding on the Environment Agency Flood Data Map. With regards to drainage, restricted rates, attenuation volumes and points of connection will be proposed once the draft Masterplan has been developed further.

Utilities

The Masterplan provides illustrations of the utilities on site. This includes a National Grid pipe line which runs along the northernmost part of the site and continues down Lords Land. A 10m buffer has been included from the pipeline within the Masterplan to prevent any damage or disruption from this pipe. Records obtained by other utility providers, such as Electricity North West, have also been used to inform the Masterplan.

Topography

Topographically, the site is relatively flat and it is unlikely that bulk earthworks will be required as part of the development. Furthermore, it is considered that site features encountered during the site walkover and findings from the desk-based study would not preclude the site’s future development.

Pylons

Due to the restrictions for development underneath pylons, green spaces will be incorporated around the site’s pylons to break up and minimize the visual impact of these objects.

Illustrative street scenes of The Lanes

Our consultation process

An initial visioning consultation on the proposals for The Lanes, Penwortham, took place during the Summer of 2018. As a development team committed to engaging with the local community, Taylor Wimpey and Homes England held an extensive series of public events, workshops and meetings with the public and stakeholders. This includes:

• Initial meetings with the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Housing and Economic Growth to discuss the forthcoming public consultation;
• A door knocking exercise for residents living within the site's boundaries to advise them of the proposals ahead of the consultation launch;
• A leaflet advising of the consultation was issued to approximately 6,500 properties surrounding the site, to advise them of the consultation and ways to get involved;
• A press release was issued to the Lancashire Evening Post and Blog Preston, both of whom covered the news;
• A dedicated project website and Facebook page were launched detailing key information about the consultation and ways to get involved;
• Two public exhibitions took place, the first in Penwortham and the second at Leyland Market, providing an opportunity for local residents to discuss the development with members of the project team;
• Workshops with residents living within the site were organised to allow those most directly impacted by the development to speak to the master planner one on one;
• A series of meetings were held with stakeholders, including local ward members at South Ribble Borough Council, the Authority’s Cabinet, the relevant members of Lancashire County Council and Penwortham Town Council. A Steering Group was also established to allow stakeholders ongoing dialogue with the development team as the Masterplan progresses;
• Formal pre-application meetings were held with key officers at South Ribble Borough Council and Lancashire County Council;
• A community Information Line and dedicated email address were available throughout the entire consultation, providing residents and stakeholders the opportunity to speak to the development team with any immediate queries;
• A Statement of Community Consultation, which details all of the engagement undertaken, was prepared following the consultation. A similar document will be produced following the end of the draft Masterplan consultation.

Illustrative street scene of The Lanes