A development of 55 affordable homes in Fleet has been given full planning permission despite objections from nearby residents.
The site to be accessed off Fleet Road already had outline permission for the homes, though only 33 per cent were due to be affordable.
Now developer Kaplan Property Group has been given permission for 33 homes to be rented and 22 for shared ownership with the site being boosted by a £2million grant from Homes England, a meeting of South Holland District Council’s Planning Committee heard.
The report to the committee by senior planning officer David Gedney does not state how many local residents objected to the proposal but that they’d raised 36 different concerns ranging from local facilities being inadequate and over-development to increased crime rates and “smell”.
Peter Coupland, ward member, said: “The outline showed 55 detached houses over big plots. I think residents saw that and thought yeah it’d be fine and now this is put in front of local residents and you can understand the comments that have come in.
“I think it looks totally alien to this part of the district.”
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, said: “I’m extremely disappointed to hear councillors still differentiating and talking as if those people who are going to live in affordable housing are somehow different.
“It’s already been commented on more than once how we treat social housing tenants I know some (social housing tenants) are a challenge, but if we continue to stigmatise and suggest they shouldn’t be in this particular community that will continue.
“Have we forgotten that many of our young people can only afford rented accommodation? “Many of our young people actually struggle to achieve their first property ownership.
“Those young people may be hard working, pleasant young people hoping to own their own home one day.
“They might be members of your family, so why on Earth would you not want them to live in a nice village like Fleet? What’s wrong with that?”
David Temple spoke to the meeting on behalf of local residents about concerns over the drainage, but planning officers said that consultees, including the local drainage board, had not raised objections that the development could not go ahead.
SHDC’s head of planning Phil Norman said: “We’re not the technical experts but we’ve consulted those that are.
“There is a drainage strategy that’s been put forward and a management plan. There’s no objections from the people that are in the know, so the issue is quite simple, we’re being told this works.
“If there’s issues in the future then we have the power and can enforce it so it’s right.”
Before the application was voted through, committee chair James Avery said: “What’s not to like about this application?
“It’s fully affordable, above what was signed off in the Section 106, public space and adoptable roads.
“There’s no roadside rubbish collection points, there’s a good mix of housing, more than satisfactory on site parking and the principle has been established.
“I support what Coun Gambba-Jones says about the people looking to live in these types of properties.
“There’s a great shortage in South Holland of affordable housing and I’m sure it gets greater year-on-year.”
Michael Gisborne of Kaplan, told the meeting work would look to start by the end of 2021 with a completion date pencilled in for 2023.
“This will have a significant positive impact on housing delivery in South Holland,” he said.
