Super mosque, super prison and sprawling housing estate: Preston, Chorley and South Ribble braced for big government planning calls

Last year saw a trio of public inquiries held into plans for a new mosque on the outskirts of Preston, a third prison on the border of Chorley and Leyland and a huge housing estate in Penwortham.

The hearings came after the conclusions reached by councillors on the relevant local authority planning committees were subsequently contested – meaning that independent planning inspectors have had to adjudicate over the applications.

However, the proposals are deemed so significant that the government will get the final say over each of them – having first taken into consideration the individual inspector’s recommendation.

Here is a reminder of the issues being wrestled with in each of the disputed bids for developments that would transform the local landscape, should they finally be given the go-ahead.

BRICK VEIL MOSQUE, BROUGHTON, PRESTON

What is planned?

A landmark place of worship on an elevated plot of land at the junction of the A6, M55 and M6, which was previously used as a compound during construction of the Broughton bypass. The building – which was the winning design in a Royal Institute of British Architects competition – would be 12 metres high and boast a 30-metre-tall minaret.

What has happened so far?

Preston City Council’s planning committee voted by a majority of eight to three to give the green light to the plans in February last year. However, a planning inquiry was launched after a city councillor and Wyre and Preston North MP Ben Wallace asked for the application to be ‘called in’ by ministers.

There was controversy ahead of the hearing when a website criticising the proposal was set up and appeared to mimic the design of one established to promote the proposal. The copycat site – whose origin was never established – later added a message saying that “racists [are] not welcome”, after supporters of the mosque said that the page contained “false and potentially defamatory content”.

At the inquiry itself – which ran for over a week and heard more than 50 hours of evidence – more than two dozen people spoke for and against the application.

Attention at the hearing focussed on whether a mosque was needed in the area, the adequacy of the proposed parking arrangements and the appearance of the building and its potential impact on the setting of a nearby listed church.

When will the final decision be made and who by?

On or before 30th January, by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove MP, following a report written for him by the inquiry chair, Darren Hendley.

PICKERING’S FARM, PENWORTHAM

What is planned?

Up to 1,100 homes on part of a sprawling plot of land that runs between the A582 Penwortham Way and Leyland Road. The scheme – comprising two separate applications – would also include a local centre for retail, employment and community uses, a two-form entry primary school and green infrastructure.

What has happened so far?

Two different versions of the plans – brought forward by developer Taylor Wimpey and the government’s housing delivery agency, Homes England – have been rejected by South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee, most recently in November 2021. The applicants appealed that decision, setting the stage for a public inquiry that ran for a fortnight late last summer.

Keep Bee Lane Rural, a local group established in opposition to the plans, told the hearing that existing residents in the rural location were being made ill by the prospect of the development and said that some of them would live “the rest of their lives” on a building site if the blueprint were approved.

Meanwhile, barristers wrangled with roads bosses and highways experts over the potential traffic impact of the plans – and whether predicted increases in journey times along key routes in the vicinity of the site should be classed as “severe”.

There were also tussles over whether the proposal did enough to secure the completion of South Ribble’s long-awaited cross-borough link road through the site.

District council leader Paul Foster also told the inquiry that the housing scheme should be rejected unless or until the A582 was turned into a dual carriageway – a project which he did not foresee happening anytime soon.

When will the final decision be made and who by?

No firm date has been published for when Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove MP will reach his decision, having considered the recommendations of inquiry chair Patrick Hanna. Mr. Gove has opted to “recover” the appeals, after concluding that the applications related to “proposals for residential development…which would significantly impact on the government’s objective to secure a better balance between housing demand and supply and create high quality, sustainable, mixed and inclusive communities”.

CHORLEY ‘SUPER PRISON’, ULNES WALTON

What is planned?

A third prison, alongside the existing Garth and Wymott jails in Ulnes Walton. The category C facility would have space for 1,715 inmates and would see the combined prison population in the locality outstrip the number of residents living in the village.

What has happened so far?

Locals opposed to the prison plan celebrated what they regarded as an early Christmas present in December 2021 when Chorley Council’s planning committee dismissed the proposals by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Councillors cited concerns over damage to the greenbelt and also road safety issues.

However, the villagers’ delight was short lived when the MoJ launched an appeal against that decision in March last year, leading to an inquiry in July. The government department said that the site was found to be the only one suitable for a new prison in the entire North West region, following a search for potential plots.

South Ribble MP Katherine Fletcher – in whose constituency the jail would sit – said at the time that she was “very disappointed” that the matter had been taken to appeal.

When will the final decision be made and who by?

Once again, the final say will be that of Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove after he decided to “recover” the prison appeal.

Katherine Fletcher wrote to him last month to ask him to reject the application and for the MoJ to “think again”, because, she said, the scheme “in its current form” does not address “the almost complete lack of public transport access options and does not contain the improvements to local infrastructure needed to mitigate identified issues”.