February 14, 2019 12.23 pm This story is over 61 months old

Residents fear village’s character will be “eroded”

Residents don’t want to lose the village appeal
The plans for the development in Goxhill.

An 85-home plan for a North Lincolnshire village has been delayed after residents accused it of “eroding the character of the village”.

Keigar Homes, was looking for outline permission to build on land off Howe Lane and Hawthorne Gardens in Goxhill, however, more than 100 letters were received against the plans and councillors voted for a site visit to take place.

Resident Andrew Green, who moved to the area from London, told councillors: “We exchanged sirens and stabbings for horses walking past our window and the sound of church bells.

“I know that sounds very romantic and picturesque, but those are part and parcel of the village’s characters.

“This is more than an application for a new housing estate,” he said, adding: “Goxhill faces the real threat of its character being eroded more and more”.

The entrance to the site from Hawthorne Gardens, in Goxhill.

Concerns also included traffic safety – particularly for walkers, schoolchildren and horse-riders, and the sustainability of the development.

Neighbourhood Watch coordinator Lorraine Gibbons said: “The roads are poor, the busier ones are usually single lanes due to parked cars.

“Public transport links are minimal, and trains and buses are not frequent enough to support residents travelling out of the village to various different work locations.”

Garry Whall, on behalf of the applicants argued the plans were sustainable.

He said: “Surely that is unnecessary because all the grounds of objection are mostly technical in nature and have been fully answered and dealt with in the planning committee report, which is an excellent and well-balanced report.”

He said the land was bought in 1980 and initially developed in 2000. It was known at the time the next phase would be built.

The land had previously been covered in commercial glass greenhouses until the mid-1980s.

He added the company had listened to the concerns of Goxhill residents.

The applicant was due to be asked to make more than £635,944 in developers’ contributions for education and leisure.