Former RAF station at Barton could become business park after four year planning saga

The original Barton Hall proposed site plan Pic: Cassidy + Ashton

Plans for a new business park south of Barton have moved a step nearer completion.

The proposed new centre will contain up to 38 modern employment units for local businesses, spread across six blocks at Barton Hall.

With the plans up in front of Preston Council planning committee on 9 January, the council’s director of development and housing has stated that the plans should be approved.

In the pre-meeting report, they state: “Subject to a satisfactory Section 106 obligation being secured for a financial contribution towards the monitoring of the Employment Skills Statement Action Plan, planning permission be granted subject to conditions addressing those matters in paragraph 2.1.”

The plans date back four years and while there has been ongoing amendments to the proposals, the latest submission delivers a range of minor tweaks to the plans.

The proposed development has been submitted by Midas Land Ltd, with Cassidy and Ashton acting as the agent.

Barton Hall, which replaced an old manor house, was built for the Shuttleworth family in about 1750. In 1939 part of the estate was requisitioned for military use. During the Second World War, the operations centre of No. 9 Group RAF was housed there in three buildings.

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