More than 400 homes on a farm near Grantham have been approved by South Kesteven District Council.
The authority’s planning committee gave the go ahead to two separate applications for land at Rectory Farm, with one for 220 homes by Rob Thorley of Jelson Ltd, and another for 228 by Georgina McCrae at Linden Homes.
Since they both related to the same development, the applications were discussed at the same time.
The land has been allocated for residential development in the council’s local plan since 2010 but previous plans caused concern for officers and consultees. However, officers say these have now been resolved.
The builds are part of the Grantham North West Quadrant sustainable urban extension which also includes the nearby partially-completed 1,800-home Poplar Farm development where community facilities including a school, community centre, sports ground and neighbourhood centre have been or are due to be completed.
Council officer Philip Moore said both sites were “a high quality standard” and accorded with both planning policies and the master plan for the area.
He said there had been a “long period of working with the developers to improve the design” on earlier plans, which were “an important component” for the overall growth strategy for the area.
Both sites will be accessed from Barrowby Road.
How the 220-home plan would be laid out.
Objectors said there was no need for more housing and lamented the loss of agricultural land.
Concerns included a lack of infrastructure in the nearby area, that the development would increase congestion and impact on highway safety, and that it was out of character.
Keith Hargraves objected to the number of houses and the extra cars it would create which he said would add a number of minutes to travel times.
He said a decision to remove a roundabout meant his home would be on a new cross roads.
He accused the developers of a “lack of thought” over the siting of the new roads.
A screenshot from South Kesteven Planning Meeting on December 23 including, from top right, committee chairman Councillor Bob Adams, objector Keith Hargraves, Linden Homes’ Georgina McCrae and planning officer Philip Moore.
The developers have been asked to contribute a combined total of nearly £5.4million towards infrastructure including roads, education, health and open space.
On top of this, each development has been asked to make 10% of their buildings affordable.
How the 228-home plan would be laid out.
Georgina McCrae, planning manager at Linden Homes, spoke on behalf of both applications.
She said the homes were likely to surpass government requirements around building regulations due to come in.
“Thesefirstphaseapplicationswillreleasethislongstandingallocationformuchneededdeliveryofhousingassisting SouthKesteveninmeetingitscurrenttargetfor14,000newhomesby2036,” she said.
Councillors sympathised with the objectors’ concerns over the road network, however, in the end voted both plans through.
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Marc Jones, the re-elected Conservative Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said that his work is not done, as he’s looking forward to a further three years in the role.
Mr Jones won with a 57.9% majority of the poll from the first round of counting, with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout. A total of 177,528 votes were placed county-wide.
The nearest candidate was Labour’s Rosanne Kirk, with a 19% share of the votes, with Lincolnshire Independent David Williams securing the third spot with 10%.
The breakdown of the votes cast on Thursday, May 6, and counted on Saturday, may 8, was:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Marc Jones: “More work to do”
“It’s very gratifying to have concluded today on the first count, that was a really positive thing for what I’ve delivered so far,” said Mr Jones.
“But I’m under no illusions having spoken to many around the county there’s an awful lot more work to do.”
He said he wanted to assure the public that “nothing was taken for granted”.
Rosie Kirk – Labour – 2nd place
Labour’s candidate Rosie Kirk said she was “thrilled for her party” across all three elections that had taken place in Lincolnshire this week.
“The votes that we got was incredible. Our message got through and to actually come second in a Conservative county is really great,” she said.
However, she added that there were “lots of questions that still need to be asked” and promised to keep up her scrutiny of Marc in his role.
Ross Pepper – Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidate Ross Pepper said the result was not “entirely unexpected”.
However, he said he was proud of the three Liberal Democrat councillors that had won seats in the local elections at Lincolnshire County and City of Lincoln Councils.
“I’m ready to work with them for a better Lincolnshire and a better Lincoln,” he said.
“In a Conservative heavy county we did a really good job of getting the Liberal Democrat message out there… and we continue pushing that message through local campaigning in the future.”
David Williams – Lincolnshire Independents
David Williams, the Lincolnshire Independents PCC candidate congratulated Marc Jones on his victory but said it is “not a surprising outcome”.
“I’m really pleased to have run for the post, because if I hadn’t have had a go to do a job that I really would have relished then I would have looked back and regretted not having taking the opportunity.”
Peter Escreet – Reform UK
Peter Escreet, the Reform UK candidate also said the result “was as expected” but actually he was “pleasantly surprised,” saying that this is “just the start”.
“The real campaign is in three years’ time” where Mr Escreet wants to grow a majority.
Conservative Marc Jones has been re-elected to the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner role.
He won from the first round of counting with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout.
The PCC oversees the strategy and finances of the force, and also hires and fires chief constables, who are responsible for the daily policing operations.
Mr Jones will be in the position for three years.
The breakdown of the results is:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Here’s the live result announcement, the reactions and acceptance speech:
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