Plans to build scores of 'affordable homes' in Harborough field have been withdrawn after criticism

Developer Owl Homes had been hoping to build 40 houses off Angell Drive, near the Farndon Fields development.

However, the company has now pressed pause on the scheme following criticism and concerns over the plans from various parties.

Among the issues raised were matters relating to highways safety, flooding, the layout of the homes and the impact on nearby residents, including on those living in the neighbouring Gracelands Caravan Park for people aged 50 or over.

In an email to Harborough District Council, the developer said its “intention” was to “submit a new application”, which it said would “address all of the matters [the district council] and the consultees have raised to date”. The application had been expected to be debated and determined by the local authority’s planning committee this week. No information has been published by the applicant as to what the reworked plans could look like.

Leicestershire County Council, as the local highways authority, was among the bodies which flagged issues with the now withdrawn proposals. The county council said the proposed access to the site, off Henry Road, currently a dead end, had not been fully audited to determine if it was safe.

Additionally, Owl Homes had included collision data for the area for the past five years in its application, but had missed out a fatal crash that happened in the area around 18 months ago. The road throughout the development would also be too wide compared to expected standards and would need to be amended to adhere to these, while speed control measures also needed to be added, the authority said.

Harborough District Council, as the relevant planning authority, also raised concerns. Its officers felt two of the homes proposed to be built along the border with Gracelands should be bungalows rather than two-storey homes to minimise how much the caravan park would be overlooked.

The concerns over the impact on residents at the caravan park was echoed by the Welland Neighbourhood Forum, which said the new homes would result in a “significant adverse visual impact and an unacceptable loss of privacy” for the residents there. The forum quoted part of the application which stated that planting and weathering of materials would “reduce” the “visual impact” of the development by year 15, adding that this would “be of little consolation to neighbours, especially Gracelands which is a retirement home of elderly residents”.

Officers also raised concerns about the plan to divert the existing public right of way on the land. They said: “The footpath is a well used route, providing for a safe route to school for children living on the wider development, as well a much loved amenity route used by people from a wider area than just the adjacent development.

“The current line of footpath benefits from clear line of sight end to end across the site, providing […] good natural observation for users. The proposed diversion obliterates all of these by introducing an elongated, winding diversion and does not represent good design.” The planning team advised that some of the homes should be relocated so the route could be kept as it was.

Finally, officers criticised some of the proposed garden areas as having “odd shapes”. Two of the homes would have a “very small, potentially unusable” back garden, they said.

Flooding concerns were also raised by both Anglian Water, which was consulted on the scheme, and local residents who said they already had such issues. Anglian Water concluded that its analysis “suggested that the proposed development will lead to an unacceptable risk of flooding downstream”, and called on Owl Homes to consult with it on a drainage strategy.

One resident objecting to the scheme said their kitchen, garden and conservatory was flooded in 2013, along with their neighbours. The water had come from the brook on the site, they said.

Since then, they and their neighbours “spend a lot of time clearing debris collected in the brook” to try to prevent it from overflowing. However, they said they feared that action would “not be enough” to stop future flooding if the 40-home proposal were to go ahead without its own drainage system.

If Owl Homes submits a new plan for the site, statutory consultees, including the two councils and water organisations would be again given the opportunity to comment. The plan would also be published on Harborough District Council’s planning portals with a public consultation period.