A planning application for 185 new homes in Holbeach has been submitted to the district council.
The site, off Battlefields Lane, is currently in agricultural use but has been allocated for residential development.
Cicero Estates is applying to renew the outline planning permission for the site.
“The council should be well aware of the site and its planning history and its acceptability as a site for housing development,” says a design and access statement in support of the development.
The site, of 6.2 hectares (15.3 acres), is on the edge of Holbeach and is currently accessed from Battlefields Lane South. There is also an existing point of access through the residential development at Kings Road.
“The site is sustainably located, in suitable proximity of services and facilities which will facilitate sustainable walking and cycling to avoid the need for use of a private car. There are also job opportunities at the nearby industrial estates and with the high street and local primary school.”
The site has previously benefitted from several separate permissions comprising up to 185 homes, says the statement.
Consent was originally granted in December 2009 with no dwelling number specified but it lapsed in 2012.
Prior to the lapse a new application was submitted which was ‘essentially the same planning permission with the same documents,’ but confirmed it was 185 dwellings.
“There was a significant delay from the time of the submission of the application in June 2012 to its determination ultimately on January 17,” said the statement.
The landowner has run out of time to submit an application to discharge matters which had been reserved.
“The applicant is seeking consent to comprehensively develop the site through the erection of up to 185 dwelling houses with associated access, parking, landscaping and open space provision, says the current proposal.”
A masterplan has been submitted alongside the plan and it shows how the site can be arranged to achieve an appropriate mix of units and open space.
The indicative scheme provides a suggested arrangements of roads through the scheme, and confirms the proposed orientation of the dwellings.
“We do not envisage that a drop in numbers will be required, but it is prudent and proper planning to provide this flexibility,” says the statement.
There will be a ‘significant area’ of open space which will be divided into two pockets, should the plan be approved.
The scheme includes “landscaped buffers where appropriate to existing hedgerow and tree line features for the purposes of both ecological benefit and the future growth and development of the flora.”
The development’s indicative numbers show ten one-bedroom flats and the same number of two-bedroom along with 46 two-bedroom dwellings and 92 three-bedroom with 27 four-bedroom homes.
Some 46 homes, 25 per cent, will be affordable housing.
“The scheme before the council seeks consent to develop a parcel of land for residential purposes which is formally allocated for residential purposes within the South East Lincolnshire Plan,” says the applicant’s agent.
