Peterborough’s Perkins and Ideal Shopping opposed affordable housing plan

Planning permission was granted to Cross Keys Homes earlier this month for 70 houses and 26 flats at the home of the Perkins Sports Association off Newark Road.

The scheme will follow on from the housing association’s development of 104 affordable homes on neighbouring land.

A new report from Peterborough City Council outlining its decision to approve the new properties has revealed that engineering firm Perkins and Ideal Shopping Direct had both raised considerable objections during the planning process.

Perkins, it said, had highlighted concerns that its 24/7 operations could be impacted due to the amount of noise generated from HGVs and internal machinery movements which is subject to change.

“If we lose this flexibility through poorly planned housing developments and restrictions on the noise we produce then we risk the viability of the site for our operational purposes,” Perkins stated.

”There are residential properties close to our boundary which is bound to cause conflict.”

Perkins, the report continued, claimed that original plans for the development would have seen car parking and service areas bordering its site, rather than people’s windows and gardens.

It called for a new design which would give a “suitable break between the industrial and the residential areas”.

The company added: “The noise survey states noise generated would exceed recommended allowance and we do not want to have to deal with continuous noise complaints.”

A further issue was the amount of traffic generated by residents moving into the new properties. Perkins said: “There are ongoing challenges with regards to traffic within the area and being able to allow our staff to get on and off the site within a reasonable time period.

”Due to the increasingly poor traffic access via the parkway roundabout to the Eastfield business, staff are increasingly making use of the Newark Road exit which is already over capacity at peak times.”

The firm also raised concerns about increased parking in Newark Road, while it said that the first development of 104 homes had “resulted in significant dirt and dust transfer to our site causing widespread issues for users of our car parking facilities, with no appropriate mitigation put in place”.

Ideal Shopping Direct said it was concerned that noise from the properties could disrupt daytime and evening filming.

It also highlighted the potential for external lighting during filming to impact on residents moving into the new homes.

In its report outlining why it approved the plans, the council said an acoustic fence and “appropriate glazing” to the properties will provide “adequate mitigation measures” to prevent noise disturbance.