April 8^th was a great day at Preston Planning Committee when the CEG proposal for the development of land to the north of Hoyles Lane and east of Sidgreaves Lane was unanimously refused, mainly due to highways and drainage issues. Thanks to all the 171 people who have written in to object to the proposal which was piecemeal, opportunistic, premature and predatory” says County Cllr Bill Winlow. “It would have been developed in isolation from the strategic location in which it sits. There was tremendous community cohesion in resisting the development for which we are all very grateful. However, it is now clear that an appeal against this decision has been lodged and we will all need to be prepared to take further action. 

We require a properly thought through strategic development plan with highways infrastructure in place before any developments start, because our current roads are already stretched to the limit. If further housing is actually built in the area the situation can only worsen and a properly planned western distributor road will be necessary to alleviate the problem. A period of public consultation to determine a route and to minimise disruption to local communities will be vital.