135 new homes to be built on former Lancaster high school site as plans get council go-ahead

Members of the planning committee meeting today, Monday, have approved council officers’ recommendations for the scheme to go ahead.

Remaining buildings on the Owen Road site – except for Chadwick High School – will be demolished and the lancd will be redeveloped for residential and community use.

The scheme includes 135 affordable houses and apartment blocks, community space, parking, public open space, and two grass football pitches.

Within the housing, proposals include 64 one-bedroom (two-person) units, 46 two-bedroom (four-person) units, 21 three-bedroom (four and five-person) units, and four four-bedroom (seven person) units.

The units within the apartment blocks would be provided as social rented units.

The development will be served by a new priority junction onto Owen Road to accommodate two-way flows of traffic. A new ghost island/lane in Owen Road will support the new access, with exiting

access onto Mainway to also be redesigned, widened and repositioned slightly.

Parking provision will be included on-street or within a parking court on the site. Four parking bays will also serve the adjacent Chadwick High School. Cycle and mobility scooter parking forms part of the overall parking allocation.

To complement the housing proposal, the scheme also includes a community space, including changing facilities associated with the reinstated playing pitches.

Proposed open space includes two junior playing pitches to the site frontage, a bespoke equipped play area built into the embankment, a playable street and central square with spill out space externally from the community centre.

These areas will be tied together as part of the wider public realm and landscaping proposals. Aside from the trees already removed as part of the demolition programme, there are further tree losses proposed including a protected tree on the northern boundary. To mitigate tree loses a total of 110 trees are proposed to be planted on the site.

Skerton High was built and opened in 1891, expanded in the late 1930s and later including a large below ground air raid shelter.

The school underwent significant refurbishment and extensions in the late 20th century, and by the 1990s the site was renamed Skerton Community High School.

The school closed on August 31 2014.

The disused school building and air raid shelter were recently demolished, prior to which Lancaster City Council acquired the site from Lancashire County Council as part of its regeneration ambitions for the Mainway Estate.

The Skerton High School site comprises phase 1 of the masterplan for the estate.

The majority of local bodies consulted on the plans have raised no objections, although Lancaster Civic Vision said that while it applauds the provision of much-needed social housing and the retention of the cherry trees and playing pitches to the front, says it “regretfully sees this as a wasted opportunity for the city council to promote quality design and create a significant development in this prime location”.

Coun Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council and cabinet member with responsibility for housing, said: "It's wonderful to have the planning permission through for the Skerton site.

"This development is a huge step forward in our regeneration efforts for Mainway and I am thrilled that these exciting proposals have been approved. “It’s not just about building new homes, but about creating a vibrant community space that people can be proud of, and it will make a real difference to local families and the wider Lancaster community. “I’m particularly excited about the emphasis on sustainability, which sets the standards that we want others to follow."