The former psychiatric hospital site has been subject to many previous attempts to promote redevelopment. Following acquisition by Homes England in 2005 and development of an initial phase of 150 dwellings by Taylor Wimpey, redevelopment of the site had stalled for a number of technical reasons and viability issues and had remained undeveloped for many years. The Tibbalds CampbellReith JV was appointed by Homes England to review historic work and develop a new Masterplan that could overcome these issues and would enable development to be delivered over a number of phases with various development partners.

Submission of the Outline Application was the culmination of 15 months of intensive work by a truly multi-disciplinary team, led by CampbellReith’s Manchester office. The team, comprising Barton Willmore, the Vinden Partnership, The Environment Partnership, Prime Transport, Tuffin Ferraby Taylor, Jones Lang LaSalle and SRL Technical Services, worked closely together and consulted extensively with key stakeholders, including Preston City Council, the NHS, local residents and the Whittingham Sports & Social Club. The outcome was an inclusive and deliverable Masterplan that Homes England and the team believed met the needs and requirements of the local community and allowed redevelopment of the long-stagnated site to proceed.

The Masterplan proposed the redevelopment of the 49 hectare site for up to 750 dwellings, including redevelopment of the existing Whittingham & Goosnargh Sports & Social Club with a new club house and car park, retention of an existing bowling green, provision of a new football pitch, tennis court, multi-use games area and event space. The Application also provided land for the future delivery of a local primary school and includes the Grade II Listed St. John’s Church, with the potential for future conversion to residential use.

A key theme of the Masterplan was to retain as much existing high-value woodland and vegetation as possible and over 22 hectares of green infrastructure have therefore been included to provide a multifunctional network of green spaces that permeate through the development.

CampbellReith has continued to provide both masterplan and detailed infrastructure design to the development over the years since the consented scheme was approved, including the recent phase to deliver the Sports & Social Club facilities, located towards the centre of the site.