Major redevelopment of former poultry farm Allowed on appeal.

10 months after the Public Inquiry opened on a seven way cojoined appeal Emery Planning are delighted to have received outline planning permission on behalf of private clients for erection of 40 dwellings on Land at Swainson Farm, Goosnargh.

The Inquiry addressed a lot of complex issues and whilst the Inspector found that Preston City Council have a 15+ year supply of deliverable housing land & Core Strategy Policy 1 is not out-of-date or inconsistent with the Framework and therefore there was a fundamental conflict with the spatial strategy and a very healthy supply of housing land that would prohibit the release of greenfield sites; he agreed with the appellants joint submissions that given the degree of separation and the lack of any direct visual relationship between the various appeal sites and the historic/civic hub of the village there would no material effect on the historic form of the village or the relationship with the rural surroundings and that, individually, together or in combination the seven sites would not have an unacceptable cumulative impact on the form and historic associations of Goosnargh as a rural village.

In relation to our clients site, the Inspector acknowledged the existing agricultural buildings are of a scale and type that is not unusual in a rural area and in their time necessary for the farm operation but accepted our assertion that given their scale, extent and condition, they have a major negative visual effect on the area, and their replacement with smaller scale dwellings in a landscaped setting would result in a positive improvement to the village approach. As such, he concluded that the major adverse impact these have on the appearance of local public rights of way and one of the main approaches to the village, the resultant visual improvements attract substantial weight that even in the “flat balance”, where the development plan is up-to-date, this together with the other material consideration combine to clearly outweigh the conflict with the development plan when read as a whole and accordingly allowed the appeal.

The appellant’s Barrister was Sarah Reid of Kings Chambers Manchester. The indicative layout plan was prepared by Darren Lever of DGL Associates Ltd.

The full appeal decision can be read here: Reference: APP/N2345/W/20/3258896 (planninginspectorate.gov.uk)