Strategic land wanted in Lancashire

What strategic land we want near Lancashire

Lancashire includes Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Blackpool and Lancaster alongside the Fylde coast resorts, the East Lancashire mill towns and many rural villages. Green Belt covers much of the south and east, between the Merseyside and Greater Manchester conurbations, and smaller areas around Blackpool and Lancaster. Former mill and industrial land, edge-of-town fields and village infill are the usual sources of housing land, with grey belt now relevant on parts of the urban fringe.

• Land for 50 or more homes next to a town or larger village
• Sites that could form part of a local plan allocation
• Land near railway stations or good bus routes
• Sites already being considered by the council

The Forest of Bowland and Arnside and Silverdale National Landscapes and a small part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park cover the rural north and east. Flood risk on the Fylde coast, the Ribble and the Lune shapes many sites, and the M6, M55 and M65 corridors link the main towns.

What usually makes or breaks it

The August 2026 NPPF supports homes within reasonable walking distance (around 800 metres) of well-connected railway stations, with minimum densities of 35 homes per hectare, or 45 near higher-frequency stations.

Since 6 August 2026, non-major development on sites of 0.2 hectares or less in England has generally been exempt from mandatory biodiversity net gain, unless priority habitat is affected. That makes many small sites simpler to bring forward.

Parts of Lancashire are Green Belt, though not every town has any nearby. We check early whether a site is inside it and, if so, whether a grey belt or previously developed land case could apply.

Parts of Lancashire fall within Forest of Bowland National Landscape, Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape and Yorkshire Dales National Park. Protected landscapes carry strong policy protection, so land in or next to them needs particularly careful assessment.