The Lancashire County Council Development Control Committee met on Thursday, December 4, 2025, and refused an application to extend the time limit for restoration works at the Preston New Road Exploration Site, while approving applications for a waste processing facility at Hillhouse International Business Park and a residential development on Stanifield Lane.

Preston New Road Exploration Site

The committee refused planning application LCC/2025/0018, which sought to amend Condition 1 of planning permission ref LCC/2023/0002 to extend the deadline for completing restoration works at the Preston New Road Exploration Site, off Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, until June 30, 2027.

The original planning permission, granted by the Secretary of State in October 2016, required all borehole drilling, hydraulic fracturing¹, testing, and site restoration to be completed within 75 months from the start of development. A subsequent application in 2023 postponed the restoration date to June 30, 2025. The current application requested a further extension to allow time for the Environment Agency groundwater permit surrender process and subsequent site restoration.

The committee's decision to refuse the extension was based on the grounds that it would cause unnecessary and unacceptable harm to the rural character of the area and conflict with the original intention of the condition, which was to ensure the land was restored to its former condition within the approved timescale. The committee found that the proposed amendment would not secure the restoration of the site at the earliest opportunity, contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, Policy DM2 of the Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan, and Policies GD4 and GD7 of the Fylde Local Plan.

Several objections were raised during the meeting. County Councillor John Singleton expressed concerns that the extension was to maintain the existing site for environmental monitoring, which was always known in order to demonstrate no lasting harm has been caused, and should have been accounted for in the previous two-year extension. He also voiced alarm at the lack of enforcement and feared that another extension would be requested in two years.

Several local residents also voiced their objections, saying that the applicant, Cuadrilla, had had plenty of time to complete the restoration work, and were simply delaying in the hope that they would be allowed to reopen the site and restart fracking once the political landscape changes.

Callum Baxter, Managing Director of the Baxter Group, addressed the committee to explain how the application came about and the reasons for it. He said that there was a strong need within Lancashire for the materials the quarry proposed to bring, and that the project was temporary, and only expected to last for six years, after which the land would be returned to the farmers in a higher state of biodiversity and amenity than is currently the case.

John Lowe, Highways Specialist, Turner Lowe, said that in his 50 year career, he had never been associated with a scheme which compared to others was so small in scale but which has offered so much more mitigation works and concessions.

Simon Rees, Minerals & Planning Consultant, Greenfield Environmental Ltd, emphasised that the new quarry planning application should be given positive planning weight as set out in national planning policy.

County Councillor Clive Balchin supported the recommendation to refuse the planning application, stating that the roads were narrow, twisting, and totally unsuited for up to 75 HGVs every single day, and that the applicant was not proposing to extract rare, strategically vital material of real importance to Lancashire as the material was easily available elsewhere.

Hillhouse International Business Park

The committee approved planning application LCC/2025/0010 for a new building, portacabin-style office, and boundary fencing related to processing household, commercial, and industrial waste to produce solid recovered fuel at Plot CL5, West Road, Hillhouse International Business Park. The decision was made after considering environmental information, as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, and was subject to the conditions outlined in Appendix 'A' of the meeting documents.

Land at Stanifield Lane

The committee approved planning application LCC/2025/0007, a reserved matters application for the erection of 74 dwellings with associated infrastructure on land east of Stanifield Lane, north of Stoney Lane, and west of Old School Lane. This application provided details for conditions 2, 7, 17, and 23 of planning permission LCC/2022/0044, which had granted outline planning permission on December 12, 2023, for the comprehensive development of the Cuerden Strategic Site (Lancashire Central) for a mixed-use scheme. The approval was subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 'B' of the meeting documents.

Decisions Made by the Director of Environment and Planning

The committee noted a report on decisions taken on development control matters by the Director of Environment and Planning, in accordance with the County Council's Scheme of Delegation.