Major new estate plans for Preston

A major new estate of almost 450 homes planned for the suburbs of Preston will feature more than half a dozen different sizes and types of property – ranging from one-bedroom apartments to four bedroom detached houses.

A site in Cottam has been earmarked for the proposed Morris Homes development, which would form a key part of the ongoing expansion of the north west of the city.

The sprawling plot – bound by Willam Young Way, Sidgreaves Lane and Maxy House Road – would also accommodate part of a new park.

Meanwhile, space for a new primary school has been reserved alongside the housing – although there is no commitment from education bosses about when it might be built.

Details of the plans have been revealed in an application lodged with Preston City Council.

The firm says it plans to build:

***22 one-bed apartments;

***18 one-bed town houses;

***53 two-bed semi-detached houses;

***125 three-bed semi-detached houses;

***13 three-bed mews homes;

***59 three-bed detached houses

***153 four-bed detached houses.

Thirty percent of the total 443 planned dwellings would fall into the discounted ‘affordable homes’ category – as required under local planning policy – and would be dotted across the plot.

The full range of properties will span almost three dozen individual designs, with the majority being two-storey, but some three-storey homes also positioned at points in the estate that create “focal points and character areas”.

The positioning of the proposed primary school has been shifted slightly from that suggested in a blueprint for the wider area, so that it would sit beyond the north eastern edge of the housing site.

The change would move the establishment further away from overhead powerlines in the area and also place it next to a public right of way, with the aim being to encourage walking and cycling to and from school.

The facility would be one of two primary schools proposed a decade ago in the overarching ‘masterplan’ vision for North West Preston – where around 5,500 homes are expected to be created.  However, as the Local Democracy Reporting Service has previously revealed, Lancashire County Council currently has set no timeline for building either of the pair.

The authority is currently engaged in trying to secure land – elsewhere within the same masterplan area – for a secondary school in Higher Bartle.

The proposed Morris Homes estate would incorporate part of the so-called ‘linear park’ planned for North West Preston. It would run alongside the electricity pylons that bestride the area and would feature allotments and sports pitches.

However, the developer would only gift the land for the park and would not be responsible for delivering the project.  As the green space will cross the borders of various housing estates, the city authority has previously stated that the work will be planned in a co-ordinated way so there is a consistency to the design.

Morris Homes says the layout of the proposed housing development is intended to complement its own “low density” estate to the south of the site, as well as that of rival housebuilder Wain Homes to the east.   A housing scheme by Breck Homes has been approved to the west of the plot.