Plans to build homes on the former Camelot site in Charnock Richard have been thrown out by Chorley councillors.
Local Conservative borough councillor Paul Leadbetter urged the development control committee to reject the proposals.
He wrote to the committee arguing that the development control committee reject the development on three planning grounds:
- There is significant harm to the openness of the green belt and no very special circumstances, that outweigh this harm, have been identified.
- There is no need, Chorley already has in excess of the required 5 years supply of housing and a plan (confirmed by an inspector at a recent appeal) that delivers the Chorley Borough housing requirements to 2026 meaning there is no requirement to release additional land for housing in the Borough at this time. In fact, releasing additional sites now increases the requirement for more sites to be released in the future and this cannot be achieved without adversely affecting the green belt
- The site is not sustainable for many reasons including, but not limited to, health and social care, school places, convenience shopping and the need to access the site by car, which is the most unsustainable method of access.
Councillor Leadbetter in his submission summed up "In summary, I think that people recognise this site will at some point in the future be developed, on a small scale, for housing. However this development is still the wrong development, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. It is unsustainable, is out of proportion to the existing villages of Heskin and Charnock Richard, adds nothing positive to the surrounding villages and is not accompanied by the very special circumstances that would permit development, in fact the circumstances provided are those that exist in any development and are not special to this particular development."
"I ask that the committee do what is right, go against the officer recommendation, and refuse this planning application."