Peterborough City Council refuses another housing development in Glinton

Another housing development in the village of Glinton has been refused by planners at Peterborough City Council.

The proposed 24 new homes, put forward by Rutland-based developer Hereward Homes Ltd, would have been located on agricultural land next to Peakirk Road in Glinton, which is outside the village envelope.

An initial application at the site was submitted by Hereward Homes in December last year and refused by planners in February.

A fresh application, which supposedly addressed the previous issues, was put forward in March but refused by the council on June 4.

The applicant argued that the proposed development demonstrated a “high quality of design” and would use materials appropriate to the character of the village.

However, the case officer report stated that the latest proposal was “near identical” to the last and would have a “detrimental impact” on the village’s rural setting.

It added that the development would represent “unacceptable sprawl” of the village and hinder the distinction between Glinton and Peakirk.

The application received objections from the council’s conservation officer, urban design officer, and five local residents.

The case officer wrote: “Overall, the benefits of new affordable housing as well as any other benefits outlined are not sufficient enough to outweigh the fundamental conflict with policy and resultant harmful impacts from the proposed development.”

It was noted that it had not been possible to identify solutions to the concerns raised following discussions with the applicant.

There have been various other housing developments refused in Glinton in recent times.

In May, plans for 250 homes submitted by Gladman Developments were refused, much to the relief of the parish council and local residents.

Another application by Larkfleet Group for 95 homes was refused in February following opposition from local councillors.

The site had been the subject of three previous applications for new homes in the past, all of which were refused for reasons such as insufficient visitor parking, lack of public open space, highway safety and the site’s location being outside of the village envelope.

Vice chairman of Glinton Parish Council, Bob Randall, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service of the village’s concerns around growth, particularly its proposed allocation of 355 homes in the city council’s Draft Local Plan.

He said: “Glinton is getting a big chunk of the development that’s being proposed for rural villages and that is really unsustainable.

“The parish council has been spending an awful lot of time going through the Draft Local Plan because we can see it being a huge threat to the survival of the village.

“We have leafleted all of the villages and also had a public meeting a couple of weeks ago where about 250 residents turned up and every one of them were objecting strongly to the idea of a 50 per cent increase in the size of the village.”

Mr Randall said that Glinton residents were not against small scale growth, but feared 355 homes would be too much.

A public consultation on Peterborough City Council’s Draft Local Plan began on April 11 and closed on May 29.