Councillors set to reject almost 60 new homes in South Kesteven

Councillors will be asked to refuse permission to nearly 60 new homes across two sites in South Kesteven next Thursday.

The authority’s planning meeting will be asked to turn down plans for 12 homes on land north of South Heath Lane, Fulbeck, and 45 homes on land to the north-west of Cedar Drive, in Bourne.

Officers said neither plan enjoys substantial support of the local community and both are contrary to a number of planning policies in terms of their layouts and the type of houses they provide.

The Fulbeck application includes 12 semi-detached homes with 10 classed as affordable and two as market housing.

The developers have proposed it as a “first homes entry-level exception site” and it will include a mix of two and three bed properties.

Private driveways would be constructed to access the homes.

The parish council has requested further information surrounding the site, while objections have been raised by SKDC’s tree officer and its principal urban design officer.

How the Fulbeck homes would be laid out.

A total of 21 objections and 15 letters of support have been submitted to the council from local residents with some supporting the need for more affordable housing, while others doubting whether the scheme would meet that demand.

Concerns also include the design of the site and the impact on local amenities and highways.

Officers said the plans would fail to meet identified affordable housing needs for Fulbeck, and that the layout and appearance of the site would not be in keeping with the local area. They also criticise the separation between properties and a failure to enter into any planning obligations around infrastructure contributions.

The Bourne development would be accessed from Cedar Drive, upgrading an existing agricultural entry between numbers 21 and 23.

It would include three separate blocks of developments, however, the layout scale and massing of the homes do not form part of the outline application.

How the Bourne homes would be laid out.

Around 14 of the properties would be classed as affordable.

There have been 206 objections to the plans, including from Bourne Civic Society, the Parish Neighbourhood Plan Group, and Bourne Town Council, along with the ward councillor at Lincolnshire County Council.

Concerns revolve around the impact on Bourne Woods, but also include unsuitable access, impact on the highways, flooding risks and the impact on schools and doctors.

In their committee report, planning officers said the scheme did not form part of an allocated site in the local plan and had not submitted evidence of support. They criticised the adverse impact into the open countryside and the failure to address planning obligations or flooding risks.