Council plans for 43 new Peterborough homes rejected by its own planning committee

An artist's impression of how Bretton Court would have looked

Peterborough City Council head of development and construction Nick Harding had explained to planning committee members that there had been objections from both the parish council and Peterborough Highways Service because of the lack of parking provision - a legacy from the original office block where the parking arrangement had been rescinded following the building of a Tesco superstore opposite.

Applicants Medesham Homes (a joint venture between the council and Cross Keys Homes) had intended for the new units to initially be used to house the homeless. But this raised further objection from the parish council who felt that while the scheme purported to provide social housing, in fact all of the units would eventually be sold off to private buyers.

One of the committee members called the application “flawed,” adding: “While it could be argued that homeless persons may not have the need for a car, or even own one, the intention is to sell these units to private buyers, and therefore parking will quickly become an issue for the future.”

Cllr Lucia Serluca added: “We have been told by Highways that a development of this nature would normally require 65 car parking spaces, yet here there are none at all.”

Rob Alexander - Local Democracy Reporting Service