Plans to build 50 homes north of Lambs Hill Drove in March approved

Plans to build a further 50 homes on the edge of March have been approved this week.

The new homes are due to be built on a field north of Lambs Hill Drove and will be part of a wider development of over 400 homes to the south of the town.

The outline application for the 50 new homes was submitted to Fenland District Council by Cannon Kirk Developments Ltd.

The developer said it would make 20 per cent of the new homes available as affordable housing, as well as creating play areas and open spaces for people to use.

The homes will be built alongside a wider development of 425 homes, which are due to be built by Barratt David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire.

While the plans have come forward as two separate applications by two developers, the developments will fit in together, sharing the same access from Wimblington Road and other services, such as drainage.

Andrew Hodson, a representative of Cannon Kirk Developments Ltd, told councillors at a planning committee meeting that the 50 homes would be designed to make sure they fit in with the neighbouring larger development.

Concerns about the proposed development had been raised by March Town Council, which claimed “excessive farmland” would be taken out of production and said there were “serious flooding and drainage concerns”.

However, planning officers at the district council who assessed the application recommended it for approval.

They admitted there would be “some unavoidable landscape harm”, but highlighted the land was already allocated for development and said on balance it would be a “sustainable development”.

The councillors who considered the application agreed unanimously to approve the plans.

Councillor Jan French said she thought it was a “good application”. She added that she had been reassured at a previous meeting with Anglian Water that the sewage system in the area did have the capacity to cope with the new homes.

Councillor David Connor said he thought it was “good to see developers working together” and said he was “glad to see” the development “finally get going”.

As an outline application, more detailed plans for the 50 new homes will need to be submitted and approved by the district council before they can be built.