A planning statement submitted to Ribble Valley Borough Council sets out a permission in principle bid for housing on the Petre Garage site in Whalley Road, close to the A59 roundabout at Longsight Road.
The application has been prepared on behalf of Bill and Steve Turner, who have run a car repair business there for many years but now want to redevelop the brownfield plot as they reach retirement age.
The 1.4‑acre site was formerly a petrol filling station and car repair workshop with a hand car wash, four linked buildings and a yard, some of which are still used for light industrial purposes.
Although it technically sits in open countryside outside Langho’s settlement boundary, the statement argues it is effectively part of a built‑up area, surrounded by modern housing at Petre Wood Crescent, older homes, the Petre Arms pub, St Leonard’s Church and primary school, and nearby tourism and leisure sites including Mytton Fold and Northcote.
All existing buildings would be demolished to make way for up to nine detached houses with garages and associated infrastructure, with detailed designs and layouts to follow at a later technical details stage if permission in principle is granted.
The applicants stress the site’s “sustainable” location, pointing to bus stops outside and 55m away, and Langho railway station within 750m, offering regular services to Blackburn, Clitheroe, and Manchester.
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The statement also leans heavily on national planning rules and Ribble Valley’s housing shortfall, citing a recent planning appeal at Chatburn Old Road, where an inspector found the council only had a 3.45‑year supply of housing land.
Because of that, key local policies restricting new homes in the open countryside are described as “out of date,” and the report says national policy now tilts the balance in favour of sustainable development on small brownfield sites like Petre Garage.
It adds there are no ecology or flood risk constraints, with the hard‑surfaced plot in Flood Zone 1 and limited wildlife habitat, and concludes there are “no adverse impacts that would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits” of bringing forward nine homes on the disused forecourt.
To view the plans in full, visit the council’s planning website.