A SIX-week consultation is due to begin on a document detailing where 4,000 new homes will be built in the Ribble Valley.

A 192-page draft core strategy has been produced by Ribble Valley Council explaining how many homes will be built in different parts of the borough.

According to the council, the valley needs 4,000 new homes by 2028 to meet demand.

Clitheroe will receive 630 of the new-builds, which includes 282 which have already been given planning permission and the 270 recently approved for land off Henthorn Road.

Whalley, which has already seen substantial development, will get 375 and the figure for Longridge has been reduced to 635 due to big developments in Preston.

Other settlements, including Mellor and Ribchester, will share 1,320 new homes.

In addition, a strategic site, with 1,040 new houses including necessary infrastructure like schools and roads, will be placed at Standen, but so far, no applications have been made for this site.

But Nick Walker, chairman of the Save Whalley Village Action Group, said he would continue to fight the plans.

He said: “We are going to demand that there is room for a redistribution.

“We feel we are being used as a dump when the houses should be spread more fairly.”

Whalley councillor, Terry Hill, said it was understandable people were protective of their towns and villages.

He said: “People don’t like change, but Ribble Valley Council’s obligation is to provide a plan for the whole of the borough which is what the core strategy sets out to do.

“We are not going to please everybody by any means, it may be that we please nobody, but the fact is we have to do it.”

Deputy leader of Ribble Valley Council, Stuart Hirst, said: “People have to remember that it is not a Disney Land theme park, it is a working environment and there are people who need affordable houses.

“The key thing is that all this will go before the inspector and the rumour is that he is going to push us for even more houses.

“The council really is piggy in the middle on this one.”

To have your say on the core strategy, write to the Forward Planning Department, Ribble Valley Council, Church Walk, Clitheroe.