Plans to create a gated luxury housing estate in suburban Preston risk being derailed by a demand for cash to build affordable housing elsewhere in the city, it has been claimed.
The proposed redevelopment of the former Harris Park Orphanage site, off Garstang Road in Fulwood, was given the go-ahead by councillors almost three years ago.
The high-end scheme will see the historic plot’s 11 Grade II-listed buildings converted for residential use, along with the creation of 16 brand new properties – 14 of which will be built on a now redundant cricket field once used for practice by a young Freddie Flintoff.
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A total of 37 dwellings are set to be developed on what is now known as the Harris Knowledge Park, which was owned and operated by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) until 2006.
At the time the housing blueprint was approved by Preston City Council’s planning committee in November 2022, the firm behind the proposal successfully argued that the project would not be financially viable if 30 percent of the properties had to be offered under the discounted ‘affordable homes’ category – as required by the authority’s own planning policy.
Members agreed to scrap that stipulation, but one of their number – the veteran, and now former, councillor David Borrow – said it left “a bad taste” that what would become “one of the poshest developments in the city” could not make a contribution to the city’s affordable housing stock.
The applicant, Eden Grove Investment Properties Limited – a company whose directors are all drawn from Preston’s Bhailok family – was told that its plans would instead be subject to a so-called “viability review mechanism”. That meant “reasonable contributions” towards developing affordable properties on another site would be required if the Harris Park estate ultimately made more profit than was expected at the outset.
However, the city council has now been asked to write off even that prospect after it was claimed the resultant “uncertainty” was making the project unattractive for the developer and investors needed to get the blueprint off the drawing board.
Planning agent Cassidy + Ashton said in a formal application for the review process to be removed that a “recurring concern” arose from the requirement for the assessment to take place when no more than 50 percent of the dwellings had been occupied.
“This is particularly challenging given the nature of the scheme…the existing condition of the heritage assets and the need to make substantial repairs and improvements as part of the overall development,” a letter from the firm states.
“It is therefore considered by the applicant that the inclusion of a [viability review mechanism]…represents a significant financial obstacle to the scheme being brought forward, creating uncertainty for investors and preventing the scheme moving forward.
“The mechanism also provides uncertainty to lenders in terms of financial return and could create delays in sales, as reviews need to be completed and agreed within a particular timeframe to ensure units can continue to be sold.
“This may leave units completed, but not able to be sold whilst a review is being undertaken and there are understandably costs associated with this. This is also very off-putting to developers and investors.”
The correspondence notes that the city council last year agreed to drop an affordable housing review for the redevelopment of the Park Hotel site amid fears delays to the restoration of the Miller Park landmark risked it becoming unsalvageable and the scheme never coming to fruition.
Cassidy + Ashton say a “similar argument” could be made about Harris Park, whose assets are cumulatively “of a higher value” than the Park Hotel.
However, the authority has also recently rejected a bid to drop a viability review required for the redevelopment of the former Dryden Mill development in Stoneygate, where almost 500 apartments are currently on hold for what is expected to be up to three years.
If the request related to Harris Park is ultimately agreed, work on the development should begin “later this year” the city council has been told.
Nevertheless, even before a decision has been reached, so-called “pre-commencement conditions” are expected to be discharged by the applicant, “with a view to making a start on the site under the existing consents”.
In that scenario, the first tranche of what would be a total of more thaN £1m in non-negotiable ‘community infrastructure levy’ would become due to the local authority.
The housing plans faced fierce opposition from locals before they were approved, with a friends group being set up to try to block the scheme. One of its members, Martin Wright, said after the proposal was approved that Preston was “losing some of our history” as a result.
The Harris Orphanage opened in 1888 and cared for more than 2,200 youngsters over the course of the 94 years which it operated.
Preston Polytechnic – the forerunner to UCLan – acquired the site in 1982 before disposing of it 24 years later.
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