The leader of Chorley Council has appealed to the government to recognise the borough does not have the space to build “another Buckshaw Village” – and remove the authority from a blacklist which restricts its planning powers.

Alistair Bradley was speaking after the only other council to be sanctioned at the same time as Chorley had its so-called “designation” status lifted.

Tory-controlled Fareham Council – like Labour-run Chorley – was singled out by Communities Secretary Michael Gove, in December for having too many of its planning decisions overturned on appeal.

His moves meant developers wanting to build in those areas were given the option of bypassing the councils altogether and taking their applications for new homes directly to the Planning Inspectorate – which hears appeals which Chorley and Fareham were deemed by the government to have lost too often.

Fareham was recently released from the ‘special measures’ category having provided what Mr. Gove described as “evidence of sufficient improvement”.

But Cllr Bradley says Chorley’s “unique circumstances” meant it was not in position to free itself from designation without government support.

Chorley has been on the wrong end of a series of appeal decisions after planning inspectors rejected the district’s arguments that it should be allowed to build fewer houses than its minimum target.

The council insists the annual tally should be reduced – in recognition of the degree to which it had been exceeded in the first half of the 2010s. That includes 3,000 homes which make up part of Buckshaw Village.

But inspectors’ rulings mean Chorley’s targets will not now be reset until a new local plan for the whole of Central Lancashire comes into force in summer 2025. Cllr Bradley said he does not want the borough to have to wait that long to regain full planning control.

He welcomed a commitment by the government to work with Chorley to see the borough taken out of designation, but added:  “We cannot unilaterally take steps that will [achieve that].

“There has to be some consideration given by the government to Chorley’s unique situation – that being the delivery of Buckshaw Village.  We haven’t got another Buckshaw Village [which could be built to boost housing numbers],” Cllr Bradley said.

He says in spite of developers currently having the option to lock Chorley Council out of the decision-making process, most were still choosing to follow the traditional planning application route.

A spokesman for Mr Gove’s department said:  “Strong local decision-making lies at the heart of the planning system.

“Where needed, the government will designate local authorities and provide support to improve their performance to ensure that all communities can benefit from a reliable, fair and efficient planning system.

“The government will continue to work with Chorley to ensure that the designation can be lifted as soon as possible.”

Chorley Council argued at several planning appeals it should be expected to build only 109 new homes a year until 2026.

But planning inspectors concluded the authority should be held to the figure under the “standard method” of calculating housing numbers.

That pushed Chorley’s annual new housing need skywards to 569 dwellings – and also rendered it unable to show that it had a five-year supply of land available to meet such a target, as required by government rules.

The council has since been obliged to approve development even on “safeguarded land” unless the harm caused by doing so “significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits” of meeting its deemed housing needs.