Our proposals for Cuerdale Garden Village will include around 1,300 new homes, a local centre, leisure facilities and a primary school to deliver a sustainable community that responds to the needs of existing and future generations.

The site will also respond to the growth opportunity provided by Samlesbury Enterprise Zone and the recent GCHQ announcement by providing land for employment, delivering new jobs, skills and spending in the area.

Story Homes was founded by Fred Story in 1987.  We have a long and successful reputation of building high quality and high specification homes throughout Cumbria, South Scotland, the North East and North West of England.

For over 30 years we have been the name most often associated with aspirational homes, and while we have grown in size and status over the years, we have remained grounded, built on our ethos of ‘doing the right thing,’ and creating a brand synonymous with quality.

Our vision is to design and build high quality homes that people aspire to live in, that bring something different to the areas in which we operate.

The steps for our plans are as follows:

• We will launch a public consultation on the plans on 4^th February 2022 This three-week consultation will centre around a dedicated project website, which will have a wealth of information about the proposals and our vision for the first phase of Cuerdale Garden Village.
• At the end of the consultation, we will review all the feedback submitted and compile this into a Statement of Community Involvement which will help us shape the plans.
• We hope to submit an application toward the end of February. We hope this application will be determined by mid-2022.
• If the outline application is approved, we will submit detailed Reserved Matters applications in due course.

The construction strategy and potential phasing will be agreed with planning officers once the application has been submitted.

The development will contain a vibrant mix of uses and include areas of residential, employment and leisure uses. These include a local centre, leisure facilities and a primary school. In addition, up to 164,000sqm GIA  sqm of employment (General Industry (B2), Storage and Distribution (B8), Commercial, Business and Service (E) and Local Community Uses (F2)) floorspace will also be delivered.

Story Homes are committed to to delivering a number of affordable properties in line with policy requirements. Exact details are to be agreed at a later Reserved Matters Stage.

No, Story Homes have an option agreement with a single landowner for the entire site.

An option agreement is a legal contract between a landowner and a potential buyer (usually a developer). The option holder (developer) has the opportunity of purchasing the site at a pre-agreed price within a set time frame once the terms of the agreement have been met.  

The proposed development will respond to the existing environmental framework and enhance wildlife corridors through proposed habitat improvement areas and green links and buffers.

The existing green network is formed by trees and hedgerows. A rich biodiversity defines the landscape character of the site and will be a fundamental element in considering the design of the new settlement.

A holistically planned new settlement which enhances the retained natural environment and offers high-quality affordable housing and locally accessible jobs and facilities in healthy and sociable communities.

The main features of a Garden Village are:

1. A large area of agricultural land
2. A compact town surrounded by a wide rural belt
3. Accommodation of housing, employment and natural environment within the town
4. Limitation of the town’s extents to prevent encroachment on the rural belt
5. Enhancement of the retained natural environment to be used for the community’s general welfare

Locating development at Cuerdale provides a number of strategic benefits, such as locating new development away from, and therefore not exacerbating, existing constrained infrasturucture, the delivery of local housing needs and the enhancement of the local natural environment.

The site is a sustainable choice for development as it provides a real opportunity to develop local employment, leisure facilities and homes with good public transport and walking and cycling links to nearby facilities and the surrounding green network

In addition, it is within a short commute to the Salmesbury Enterprise Zone and the planned GCHQ facility and represents a fantastic opportunity for those working in these areas to live locally to their employment.

We are going to focus on people, movement and place.

• People: to provide a better life for all by delivering the opportunity for local people to own a home that suits their needs, including the offer of affordable homes. In addition, the Garden Village will contribute accessible local jobs.
• Movement: to promote the use of sustainable modes of transport through new investment in infrastructure.
• Place: to create a distinctive, innovative and aspirational Garden Village at Cuerdale, where residents will love to live and work.

Yes, there are plans to include greenspaces in the garden village.

The types of green spaces include:

Existing woodland such as Walmsley Fold Wood and Huntley Wood will be retained. In addition, where possible, existing trees and hedgerows will be preserved. These measures will be supplemented by a considered planting and landscaping plan which will preserve biodiversity and provide a wider range of enhanced habitats.

Story Homes have submitted a request for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Opinion to South Ribble Borough Council to determine what issues the development team will need to consider when evaluating the potential environmental impact of the scheme.

The information provided from the council will be used to inform an Environmental Statement (ES) which will be submitted with the outline planning permission application. The ES will provide high level information concerning how our plans will deal with environmental issues and approaches to this within the development.

Additionally, existing woodland such as Walmsley Fold Wood and Huntley Wood will be retained. In addition, where possible, existing trees and hedgerows will be preserved. These measures will be supplemented by a considered planting and landscaping plan which will preserve biodiversity and provide a wider range of habitats.

Story Homes will be embracing the latest sustainable technologies and providing opportunities for cycling and walking. The energy and sustainability strategy is being finalised and will be presented within the application submission when there will be the opportunity to comment again to the planning authority. Electric Vehicle Charging Points will be included across the site and exact details and number will be secured at a later reserved matters stage.

The site currently lies within the Green Belt, however the release of the site will not undermine the strategic function of the Green Belt which is to prevent unrestricted sprawl of towns and the merging of them with surrounding smaller settlements.

The land which comprised the Site plays a limited role in preventing the unrestricted sprawl of Preston to the east as Cuerdale Garden Village will be a new standalone settlement and will not form an extension to Preston. The Garden Village will be a ‘contained’ release that is not constrained by the existing road network and presence of existing industry. The development will be set within a robust landscaping scheme so that there is limited risk of further extension.

The site is at a low risk of flooding. A small area of land in the north-western parcel is withi Flood Zone 2 & 3. The illustrative masterplan and parameter plans ensure the flood risk in this area can be effectively mitigated and the proposed development will not have an adverse impact on future development.

To assist with surface water run off, a series of measures will be included such as attenuation ponds and swales. Run-off from parking areas and roads will be required to pass through a petrol interceptor prior to discharge to the appropriate watercourse, to ensure run-off is not polluting the local waterways.

A number of bus routes (59,280,852,441) have bus stops along the A59 (New Preston Road) and Cuerdale Lane. These routes have connections with nearby town centres such as Preston and Blackburn. The nearest bus stops are located within a 400m radius from the proposed “heart” of the scheme.

The Garden Village will also stimulate investment and provide additional passengers. Local bus companies could adapt their services to meet this new demand with more regular services or additional routes.

An extensive network of pedestrian / cycle routes will connect the site across the north-south and west-east directions. These pedestrian and cycle routes will be set within the green infrastructure and the permeability of the individual development parcels and wider connectivity between parcels has been considered throughout the design stage. Suitable high quality footpaths and cycle links can be provided and these design features will contribute to the creation of a sustainable and healthy community.

The proposals will provide new pedestrian connections along Cuerdale Lane and Vicarage Lane using land that is either under the control of the applicant or is within the adopted highway.

A detailed traffic impact assessment will be undertaken to determine the unmitigated impact of the proposals on the local highway network. Where necessary, mitigation will then be identified, such as works to key junctions or improvements proposed to pedestrian and cycle links.

The site is ideally located to the east of Preston and within a strategic location between the A59 and the M6 motorway. The Northern portion of the site will have a direct link to the A59.

Socio-economic benefits include:

• A range of new high quality housing.
• Significant employment opportunities during construction and operational phases.
• Additional local expenditure as residents move to the area.
• Additional council tax payments.

New services and facilities will meet local needs such as primary schools and a well-defined local centre. Story Homes will work with the Council to agree any appropriate financial contributions to local services through a Section 106 agreement.

Jobs will be created during construction phase as well as a significant number of employment opportunities once the scheme has been developed. Proposals being brought forward at reserved matters stage will provide detail of the type of employment opportunities across the employment parcels including a mix of logistics units, mid-size commercial units and office units.

The residential parcels include a local centre with further opportunity for additional employment uses.

We are consulting to learn more about what local people and stakeholders think about our plans. This will allow us to react to the local knowledge that many residents will share and allow our development team the opportunity to consider how this knowledge could better our proposals.

We are consulting with all parts of the community. We want to engage local residents, politicians, business representatives, third party groups and stakeholders – anyone who has an interest in the plans or could be affected by the proposals.

There are several ways you can have a say on our proposals, such as calling the community information line on 0333 358 0502 (Monday to Friday – 9:00am to 5:30pm) or completing a feedback form on the project website: www.cuerdalegardenvillage.co.uk You can also email us cuerdale@havingyoursay.co.uk. A physical copy of a feedback form can also be requested, filled out and then sent to to us.

All feedback received will be reviewed in detail and we will look to incorporate appropriate comments within the scheme’s planning application. All feedback will also be collated in a Pre-Application Consultation Report which will be publicly available on the project website once the consultation ends.

We hope to submit an outline application in March 2022.