PROPOSALS on the future of controversial housing developments in the Ribble Valley have been put out to public consultation.

Ribble Valley Borough Council is asking for views on options including the creation of 1,500 new homes on the Standen Estate on the outskirts of Clitheroe and a new 1,950 housings development at Barrow.

Planners are suggesting an additional 2,987 homes, in addition to those already granted planning permission, should be built in the valley by 2028.

The council’s planning committee voted to canvass opinions over a six-week period.

Bosses said the feedback would help form a ‘Core Strategy’ district plan to regulate and control planning in the borough, in the face of a current “bombardment” of applications.

Three options have already been considered by the public, with plans to have Longridge as the main development area rejected as the least popular.

Five new proposals suggest schemes where up to 1,553 homes could be built in Clitheroe, 803 in Longridge, 321 in Whalley and 620 across 31 villages.

Ken Hind, planning committee senior vice chairman, said: “We need to have in place a Core Strategy approved by the Government as soon as possible, so we as a community can decide where developments take place.

“It is essential to have strong guidelines to prevent inappropriate development and protect the rural nature of the Ribble Valley.

“The Core Strategy will be the basis on which planning permission will be granted or refused up to 2028 and we owe it to our children to get it right.

Cllr Hind said the committee must establish whether people thought more than 3,000 homes were needed over the next two decades, what kind of houses should be built and for what type of residents.

Nick Walker, chairman of the Save Whalley Village Action group, said it had taken part in ‘open’ discussions with the council and that its committee would meet on Monday to discuss the different options.

He said: “We’re looking for something that will protect the village from over-development.

“At the moment we’re suffering because developers see Whalley as a prize feeding site if you like, a place where they can make a lot of money.”

The consultation runs until 5pm on Friday, August 12.