Wyre planners approve 210 new homes for Thornton

A proposed housing development of 210 homes in Thornton has been approved by Wyre planners.
The proposed site for the homes, off Bourne Road in ThorntonThe proposed site for the homes, off Bourne Road in Thornton
The proposed site for the homes, off Bourne Road in Thornton

Councillors on Wyre's planning committee unanimously approved the application.

The affordable homes scheme from applicant Breck Homes is earmarked for land off Bourne Road in Thornton on the former Thornton Power Station site.

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It includes 85 one-bed, 53 two-bed, 66 three-bed and six four-bed properties.

The power station was constructed by ICI in 1953 to power the adjacent Hillhouse chemical plant before its demolition in 2009, clearing the way for a large area of land for potential development.

Wyre council planners had already resolved to grant permission for the development, but had to refer the application back to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) before work could begin.

HSE said that it had “sufficient reasons, on safety grounds, for advising against the granting of planning permission” due to the proposed development lying “within the HSE consultation distance of a major accident hazard pipeline and a major hazard site, ” the Cadent gas line and ICI chemical plant site respectively.

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Part of the HSE concerns were that the development included more than 30 dwellings within the HSE “middle consultation zone”, including an apartment block containing 21 units.

However, the developer amended the plans, moving the apartment building to another area of the site which was outside the middle zone, making the plans acceptable to the HSE.

County Councillor Andrea Kay, who was unable to attend the meeting, had opposed the potential for increased traffic disturbance and accidents on Bourne Road, and the extra pressure on local schools, not the building of new homes.

However, the plans now included a new footpath enforceable by planning regulations.

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At the meeting Coun David Walmsley raised the question of contamination of land due to the site’s previous use as a power station..

In replay David Thow, head of planning at Wyre, said: “It is known that this site has got contamination on it because of previous use as a power station.

“When the previous commission was granted and technically implemented, it triggered a Section 106 contribution which the council’s environmental health team been using small parts of.

“That contribution was to assist the council’s environmental health team to carry out regular monitoring to work with the developer to ensure all contamination is properly dealt with

“The section 6 contribution was for £10,000 to be used by for ongoing monitoring as the development progresses.”

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