October 1, 2020 3.39 pm This story is over 41 months old

175 new houses approved despite ‘sleeper town’ concerns

People fear their village is getting too big
Where the development would be built in Sibsey. | Photo: Google Street View

Plans to build 175 new homes in Sibsey have been approved despite opposition.

East Lindsey District Council’s planning committee voted in favour of Chestnut Homes’ outline proposals for land next to Church Walk, off Main Road on Thursday.

The application has been amended since it was first submitted, reducing the number from 200 homes — the number it has been allocated in the council’s local plan for the area.

The plans received nearly 80 objections from the parish council, the Sibsey Free School and local residents concerned the location was unsustainable and worried over the number of cars.

They said the village already had enough housing and that roads lacked the capacity.

Sibsey Parish Council said the build did not reflect the character of the village, but was more in keeping with a town or city suburb.

An indicative site layout provided by the developer. | Graphic: ELDC

ELDC Councillor Neil Jones, who objected to the plans, said: “This amount of dwellings — there’s no work there, no facilities apart from a shop or garage.

“This development is really just a sleeper town for Boston.”

Sibsey Free Primary School and Sibsey Joint School Trust’s governing body said the development did “not offer viable long term future” for their facilities and that a request for a contribution towards education did not go far enough.

Since the site is allocated in the local plan and has approval in principle, councillors could not find a material reason to object.

Councillor Jim Swanson questioned why there had been no objections when the local plan had been approved.

As part of the plans, the developer has provided Lincolnshire County Council with land to expand Sibsey Free School on the site.

It will also be asked to provide 15% of the homes as “affordable” and make a financial contribution of £5,000 to LCC Highways to monitor a travel plan for the site.