Major new estate next to Preston Western Distributor Road gets the green light

Preston City Council’s planning committee gave the nod to the proposed layout and make-up of the 280-dwelling estate, off Riversway in Lea, having granted outline permission for the scheme more than two years ago.

Members heard that developer Bloor Homes had made a number of changes to their original plans in response to issues raised by the council and the public.

The housebuilder’s agent for the proposal told the meeting that it was “important for the details to be right at this stage in the process”.

The modifications included tweaks to some elements of the access, which committee member - and Lea and Larches ward councillor - David Borrow said he was pleased to see implemented. These included the provision of pedestrian access points from North Syke Avenue and Blackpool Road.

Vehicles will enter the estate directly from Riversway, close to the revamped junction with the Preston Western Distributor - officially now known as Edith Rigby Way - which Cllr Borrow described as “quite complicated”.

The Preston Western Distriubutor’s purpose has been to make accessible the swathes of land earmarked for housing development in North West Preston, where around 6,000 new homes are being built over the 20 years through to the mid-2030s.

The main access road to the Bloor Homes estate will run through the centre of the site from south to north, branching off to the east and west to serve the remainder of the plot, which will have a “relatively linear street layout”, according to planning documents.

The committee heard that around 40 percent of the site will be given over to publicly-accessible open space, because of the constraints of developing certain sections of it, where there are electricity pylons and areas of flood risk .

There will also be what members were told amounts to a “significant net increase in the number of trees” at the location after the development is complete, which is likely to be in 2027.

Thirty percent of the properties will fall into the affordable category, with 59 being made available for affordable rent and 25 as shared ownership units.

Overall, there will be 50 two-bedroomed dwellings or maisonettes, 101 with three bedrooms and 129 four-bedroomed properties.