PROPERTY tycoon Gerald Hitman has submitted fresh plans for the remainder of his controversial development at Brockhall.

He is appealing against a Ribble Valley Council decision to turn down his request to reduce the number of houses at the site from 400 to 345 and the amount of employment space from 900,000 sq ft to just 120,000sq ft.

Councillors in Billington and Langho strongly objected to the proposal and accused Mr Hitman of moving the goalposts in an attempt to avoid building community facilities.

But he argued the new plan offered a way of avoiding building a road over a mile of open countryside.

Ribble Valley Council turned down the plans last month. Now Mr Hitman has submitted revised plans for 261 houses with 120,000 sq ft of employment space, 20 flats, with garages and car parking, and two office buildings.

Billington and Langho Parish Council chairman Graham Sowter accused Mr Hitman of trying to avoid the appeal.

"My belief that Brockhall is an unsustainable development stands and the parish council will certainly be looking at the revised plans closely," he said.

Gerald Hitman commented: "I was surprised when Ribble Valley councillors refused our application to reduce the amount of development and we have been preparing for the appeal in June.

"In the meantime, we have resubmitted our application with some modifications, which are designed to improve environmental sustainability even further."

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