Mixed reactions on three housing developments in Manea
A developer has been given the green light to build new homes in Manea, despite objections from the parish council.
Plans for three separate housing developments off Westfield Road were presented to councillors at Fenland District Council on Wednesday.
While approval was given for some of the new homes to be built, concerns about flooding and road safety stopped councillors from agreeing to all of the developments.
Support was given to plans to build 24 new homes on land north of 96A to 100 in Westfield Road.
The development is due to include four two-bedroom homes, six three-bedroom homes, and 14 four-bedroom homes.
Seven of the new homes are due to be made available as affordable housing.
The district council previously approved an outline application to build up to 26 homes on the site.
Matthew Hall, a representative of the developer, said the latest plans proposed a reduction in the number of homes and offered a mixture of house types.
Manea Parish Council raised concerns about the development, saying: “This plan is a revision of previous plans, there is a significant increase in the number of bedrooms, no details of foul sewer or drainage details, roads and paths insufficient for future rear development.”
However, planning officers said these concerns “appear unfounded when considered against the evidence and the relevant policies”.
Officers said: “The application proposes a policy compliant scheme which raises no issues in terms of adverse impacts regarding visual or residential amenity.
“In addition, the applicant has provided sufficient technical details and has actively engaged with the relevant statutory agencies to respond to issues relating to drainage, landscaping, layout, and highways.”
Councillor Jan French said the plans were “much better” than the original proposals, highlighting the reduction in housing.
She added that she was also pleased to see a “significant amount” of financial contributions also proposed.
The application was approved unanimously by councillors.
However, separate plans to build seven homes north of 12A in Westfield Road did not receive the same amount of support.
The outline planning application proposed to demolish an existing shed to make way for the new homes.
The parish council had objected to this development as well, raising concerns about the proposed road access to the new homes and flooding risk.
The council said: “The proposed access is close to the bends in Westfield Road, inadequate details of disposal of surface water. No proposal to mitigate possible flooding of adjacent properties.”
Planning officers said these concerns “appear unfounded”, highlighting that highways authority had concluded the access road was acceptable, and that the land is within flood zone one, the area at lowest risk of flooding.
Mr Hall, representing the developer, said the site is “surrounded by residential development” and is therefore “clearly within the build up form of Manea”.
He highlighted that the land is in an area deemed to be at low risk of flooding and set out some of the drainage proposals, including making the pond on site bigger to hold water which would then be slowly released through pipes.
However, councillors said they had concerns about the plans.
Councillor Charlie Marks said he was concerned about the access, adding that he was “amazed” the highways authority had said it would be safe.
Councillor David Connor also raised concerns about the proposed access road and said he believed it would be too close to the bends in Westfield Road.
Cllr French said she had concerns about drainage. She told the meeting that she had gone to look at the site recently and “the whole place was flooded”.
The committee said it wanted more information from highways authorities and Anglian Water about their concerns and agreed to defer making a decision.
A third application to build new homes off Westfield Road in Manea was refused by the district council.
This development included plans for four new homes to the north of 94 Westfield Road.
Officers had recommended that this application should be refused, raising concerns about the impact on the area.
They said: “Whilst the development is in outline form with matters only committed in respect of access and scale, it is necessary to demonstrate that the site is suitable for the development proposed.
“Given the constraints of the site, it is not considered that the submitted information adequately demonstrates up to four dwellings could be accommodated without creating significant detrimental impacts in respect of the character of the area and the residential amenity of existing and proposed dwellings, nor that a suitable access, parking and turning arrangement can be achieved within the site.”
Mr Hall, representing the developer, said what was being proposed was a “small scale development for four bungalows”.
He said he believed the homes would have both “adequate garden areas and adequate parking”.
However, councillors said they agreed with the planning officer’s recommendation.
Cllr Marks said he believed what was proposed was “just too much in a very narrow corridor”.
