Bailrigg
Vision Document and Framework Masterplan
Project information
Client
Hollins Strategic Land
Partners
Betts Associates, SK Transport Planning, Influence Landscape Architects, ERAP Consultant Ecologists, Brownfield Solutions, KSA Heritage Conservation Consultants
Location
Bailrigg, Lancaster
The Challenge
Appointed by a land promoter on behalf of the landowner, our task was to represent a specific land parcel within the strategic Bailrigg Garden Village allocation south of Lancaster. The initial draft framework prepared by the council’s lead consultants designated little to no developable area on our client’s parcel, designating the land almost entirely for public open space and infrastructure. Crucially, the draft strategy mapped a major bypass route that bisected and sterilised areas of the site, severely constraining its potential and compromising the landowner’s asset value. We were brought in to challenge this initial baseline and give Lancaster City Council the confidence that an alternative, landscape and heritage led spatial approach could satisfy their overarching Garden Village ambitions while unlocking significant development area.
The Role
Our team authored the Vision Document and Framework Masterplan, converting high-voltage pylon easements and the Burrow Beck watercourse into central spatial assets. Rather than simply resisting the infrastructure constraints, we re-engineered the site’s layout around a masterplan framework that incorporated high voltage pylon easements, topography, and the Burrow Beck watercourse into central design assets. Our masterplan successfully demonstrated how the parcel could deliver robust active travel networks, 13 hectares of multifunctional green open space, community orchards, allotments, and a vibrant local centre adjacent to the Lancaster Canal. By aligning our spatial strategy directly with the Council’s core objectives for healthy living, blue/green infrastructure, and local food growing, we proved that density and high-quality placemaking could coexist harmoniously.
The Outcome
Our intervention fundamentally shifted the direction of the council’s strategic allocation, successfully securing over 11 hectares of clear developable land for our client. We turned the Council’s original position from a zero-home baseline into an adopted allocation for approximately 500 new homes, alongside a mixed-use local centre and extensive public realm. The refined masterplan was formally incorporated into the adopted strategic document for Bailrigg Garden Village, successfully safeguarding the commercial value of the asset while ensuring a high quality, landscape led extension to the local context.
