New housing development could replace disheveled storage containers in Chatteris

More than 20 homes could be built in Chatteris after a planning application for a major new residential development was submitted to Fenland District Council (FDC).

Urban Developments Peterborough Ltd is behind the application, which would see 22 two-storey houses built on industrial land south of 88 West Street.

Four of these houses would be two-bed homes, while 17 would be three-bed and one a four-bed. Six would be social housing and the rest available to buy or rent.

Planning agents Eddisons Barker Storey Matthews say that the new homes would make a “high-quality and well-landscaped residential development”, in which all residents would have gardens and multiple car and bike parking spaces.

There would also be open space available with a new footpath proposed running through it, they say.

Similar application previously refused

Virtually the same application – submitted by the same applicant – was, however, rejected by FDC in November 2022 over an access issue.

Urban Developments Peterborough promised, as part of their application, to extend West Road into the new development and resurface its entire length.

But because there was no legal recording of the width of a byway off the end of the road closest to the development, FDC said that they would not lawfully be able to resurface it and keep their guarantee.

The developers have since applied to Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) to formally establish the width of the byway, believed to be 30 feet (10 metres), and sought legal advice which suggests that there is now no reason they should not be able to proceed with securing planning permission.

They have also moved the planned location of three of the houses on their original application which were connected to the development by a sliver of land whose ownership is unknown and could have posed a further problem.

Highways authority currently objects to the application

A decision on the new application is yet to be made by FDC.

But CCC – which is the region’s highways authority – has indicated that it still objects to the proposal as the width of the byway hasn’t yet been established.

Developers say they expect this to occur within three to four months – so it’s possible this objection can be dealt with before the district council make their decision.

If the new application is approved, existing storage units at the spot will be knocked down.

These have been used by D&M Engineering Services for over a decade, but Eddisons Barker Storey Matthews says that the units are in a poor state and the company in the process of seeking more suitable premises elsewhere anyway.