March 2, 2022 12.10 pm This story is over 39 months old

Refused 150-home plan near Spalding back before council

The plans were previously “binned off”
An artist's impression of how the previous Weston development could look.

Plans for 150 homes in a Spalding village will be back before councillors next week after they were originally dismissed.

South Holland District Council previously refused Persimmon Homes’ plans for land off High Road Weston. The council said the applicant made only minor changes in response to concerns over the number of private drives, car parking arrangements and the location of the bin collection points.

Persimmon have since gone back to the authority with a new application, for the same number of homes, but with 112 being market value and 38 classed as “affordable”.

The renewed plans show almost all the private drives replaced with “edge lanes”, while an area of open space is located at the centre of the site.

Officers will tell councillors next Wednesday the application is “in general accordance” with planning policies and will recommend approval of the plans.

“The principle of residential development on this site has already been established by virtue of housing allocation in the local plan,” said the planning report.

“It is not considered that the proposal would materially harm the character or appearance of the locality or amenity of nearby residents, and flood risk and affordable housing/developer contribution matters have been appropriately addressed.”

An updated layout for the scheme.

However, objectors including Weston Parish Council remain concerned about the proposal.

They say the roads are “too narrow” and have worries about congestion and ‘over-development’ of the site.

“The design proposed… is poor and out of keeping for the village, created ultimately is a theme of over-density.”

They said the council would likely support an application with a lower density and designed similar to others in Weston.

South Holland MP Sir John Hayes has also objected, saying he was “disappointed to note the proposal is still for the erection of 150 dwellings”.

If approval is given, the developers will be asked to make an education contribution of £661,928, an NHS contribution of £99,000 and a parish council contribution of £108,000.