Story Homes to deliver infrastructure and housing to support National Cyber Force Campus

Story Homes has submitted its plans for Cuerdale Garden Village, a  development designed to support the emerging cyber cluster around the new National Cyber Force (NCF) Campus at Samlesbury.

The Cuerdale Garden Village scheme includes:

• 164,000 sqm of modern, flexible employment space to support cyber and defence-related supply chains
•  Up to 1,300 high-quality homes, with 50 per cent affordable housing tailored to key worker defence staff
•  A local centre, playing pitches, recreation space, and a 500-space park and ride facility
•  A new two-form entry primary school in close proximity to the NCF campus

The scheme will also deliver a £470m in construction investment. When in operation, Cuerdale will generate a £275m productivity boost in GVA economic output per annum, including £219m in South Ribble alone.

The government’s £5bn investment in the NCF Campus presents an opportunity for Lancashire to become a world leader in cyber jobs, research, and innovation.

Story Homes is ready to invest and deliver the infrastructure, commercial space, and housing needed to fully realise the potential of this opportunity. 

John Winstanley, managing director for Strategic Land, said: “Cuerdale Garden Village is a unique and once-in-a-generation opportunity to address current and long-term needs of South Ribble and Central Lancashire, while enabling the region to meet the needs and opportunities arising through the National Cyber Force at Samlesbury.

 “Our plans will deliver a new community of up to 1,300 homes, plus workspace and recreation facilities.

"The scheme will provide 50 per cent affordable housing tailored to key worker defence staff and also deliver over 30 per cent Biodiversity Net Gain and 60 hectares of publicly accessible greenspace, representing 40 per cent of the overall site.”

Andy MacNae, MP for Rossendale and Darwen and the government’s mission champion for the North West, said: “When big investments, like Lancashire’s National Cyber Force Campus, are accompanied by new social infrastructure – houses, schools, transport links – it’s good for all of us.

"It lays the foundation for success and maximises the benefits of the investment, so that people locally and county-wide can feel the benefits of more jobs, talent and money coming into Lancashire.

"Proposals like this are a great example of that, showing how the government’s increased defence spending is spurring growth, creating change across the country.”

The group chair and chief executive of influential private sector lobby group Downtown in Business, Frank McKenna, added: “This is a crucially important development for Lancashire.

"Not only will it help the county achieve its housing targets, but it will demonstrate a genuine commitment to the proposed NCF initiative, which offers the region so much in terms of investment and jobs.

"I would urge South Ribble Borough Council to deal with this application in a positive and speedy fashion and show that it – like Lancashire’s MPs and business leaders – is ambitious for Lancashire’s future and economic growth.”