CHORLEY and all other Lancashire councils are falling short of government targets for building new homes on previously developed land.

The information was revealed in the latest monitoring report into the Lancashire Structure Plan - the blueprint for future land use in the county.

The percentage of homes on large brownfield sites ranges from a high of 57 per cent in the Ribble Valley to a low of 14.6 per cent in South Ribble.

The Government has set a 60 per cent target and increasing the proportion of new homes is included in considerations for the plan's review.

Other issues raised in the monitoring report include:

The population of Lancashire is projected to increase by 2.31 per cent between 1996-2016.

There will be shift in balance of population towards more household forming age groups and consequent growth in small and single person households.

The healthiest town centres in Lancashire are Burnley, Preston, Blackburn, Blackpool and Lancaster.

The least healthy are Bacup, St Annes, Fleetwood, Poulton-le-Fylde and Rawtenstall.

The new structure plan will look at improving the health of poorer performing centres while maintaining and enhancing that of the healthiest.

The current Lancashire Structure Plan (1991-2006) was adopted in 1997, setting out long-term policies for development of land and traffic management.

Monitoring helps ensure everything is on track and provides background information to help councils prepare a new plan for 2001-2016.

County Councillor George Slynn, chairman of the planning, industrial development and tourism committee, said progress had been made towards a more sustainable transport policy, such as reopening railway stations, introducing quality bus partnerships and providing better facilities for cyclists.

He said: "We know that the road proposals in the current structure plan will not be achieved by 2006.

"What we need to do now is tackle the problem raised by the substantial reductions in public sector financed road building and how we can cope with the future growth in personal mobility, the needs of the business sector and protect urban and rural environments.

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