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Almost 100 homes are to be built on a former conference centre and further education site in Chorley.
The dwellings will spring up as part of the long-awaited redevelopment of land previously occupied by the Woodlands Conference Centre and Lancashire College
Chorley Council bought the 4.2-hectare plot – off Southport Road (the A581), one of the main routes into the town centre – from Lancashire County Council in 2023.
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The conference facility closed down in 2017 as a result of falling use and rocketing repair bills. It was finally demolished last year.
The district authority has now secured outline planning permission for 97 new dwellings, which will be delivered by an as-yet-unnamed developer. That approval was granted by its own, independent cross-party planning committee.
The meeting at which the decision was made heard that the mature woodland and well-landscaped setting of the now flattened conference buildings would be retained – and improved – as part of the new estate.
Chorley Council’s principal planning officer, Iain Crossland, said the development “has the potential to enhance the appearance of the site”.
The proposal was well received by committee members, with Cllr Chris Snow welcoming the fact that the Woodlands site would continue to merit that name. He said the plans would “restore the wildlife corridor along the Yarrow Valley”.
However, he was one of several members to call for new crossing facilities to be installed on the busy A581 as part of the housing scheme, in order to provide some protection for children travelling to and from nearby schools.
The committee was told that that would be a matter for the further permission that will need to be sought for the more detailed aspects of the development – but that Lancashire County Council was supportive of a call from Chorley Council to remove the 40mph limit currently in place on a stretch of Southport Road so that the route was a continuous 30mph in the vicinity of the estate.
Cllr Craige Southern said the site had become an “eyesore” and that it was time to draft in a developer to put it to good use.
Fellow committee member Cllr Russ Green added that he believed the new estate would be “a really nice place to live”.
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