Over 400 homes approved on edge of Whittlesey despite concerns roads are ‘already gridlocked’

Over 400 new homes are due to be built across two developments in Whittlesey, despite concerns about how this will impact the town’s ‘already gridlocked’ roads.

Officials recognised there are traffic problems in the town but said some measures are proposed to minimise the impact of the new homes.

However, they said an overarching solution to the town’s problem is not yet being looked at.

Fenland District Council considered two applications to build hundreds of new homes in Whittlesey at its planning committee meeting this on yesterday.

The first application proposed to build 175 homes on land south of Drybread Road.

A representative of the developer, Allison Homes Ltd, told councillors that the development would offer new homes in a “sustainable location”.

They said a minimum of 20% would be made available as affordable housing, which they said would help address the “shortfall” of affordable housing in the area.

They added that a “package of mitigation measures” was proposed to address the highways impact of the proposed development.

Cllr Elisabeth Sennitt Clough raised concerns about the impact of the new households on traffic in the town.

She said: “Whittlesey is in gridlock, it is facing an unprecedented amount of traffic chaos at the moment from a number of different factors.

“How can you possibly get around the problem of the Whittlesey traffic gridlock at the moment from an extra 175 properties that are being proposed.”

Highways officers said Whittlesey was a “very challenging place in terms of transport”.

They said there was not a scheme in the works at the moment that could offer an overall solution.

However, they explained that each individual development had to be considered on its own impacts to roads and whether this could be mitigated.

In this case officers said they believed the measures agreed with the developer would do this.

Cllr Peter Murphy said the A605 through Whittlesey was a busy road, but highlighted that delays being caused by the lane closure on the Ralph Butcher Causeway should be resolved by the time the new homes are built.

Concerns about highway safety were raised about the second development considered by Cllrs at the meeting.

These plans proposed to see 249 new homes built on land to the north of Eastrea Road.

A representative of the developer, Rose Homes (EA) Limited, said they were aware of objections to the plans and that concerns had been raised around highway safety.

They said the proposed development would “maintain highway safety” adding that the developer had worked with the highways authority to agree on a “range of highway improvements”.

However, Cllr Sennitt Clough said she was still “not confident about the safety aspect”, highlighting that a number of new developments were creating new access points onto the same stretch of road.

Cllr Charlie Marks said when it came to highways they had to follow what the officers said, as he said they were the experts and had concluded the plans were compliant.

Cllr Sennitt Clough also raised concerns about the development ‘compromising’ the “green buffer” with Eastrea.

However, Cllr Murphy said: “There is change all over the world” and said it was “just fact” change will happen and added that new homes were needed.

Both applications were ultimately approved by a majority of Cllrs.

As outline applications, further detailed plans will need to be submitted and approved by the district council before the homes can be built.