400 new Grantham homes approved

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.

“These first phase applications will release this long standing allocation for much needed delivery of housing assisting South Kesteven in meeting its current target for 14,000 new homes by 2036,” she said.

“The proposals have been designed to a high standard which is in keeping with its context and compliant with local and national planning.”

Councillors sympathised with the objectors’ concerns over the road network, however, in the end voted both plans through.