Overhauled 160-home scheme set for approval

A detailed planning application that has earmarked a plot of agricultural land in Leicestershire for a housing development with 160 properties is set to be approved, more than six months after proposals were blocked due to design concerns.Bloor Homes received the conditional green light for outline plans regarding the scheme at Cropston Road in Anstey in November 2015.The reserved matters application, detailing the mix of housing, was lodged in March 2016 and refused six months later, with Charnwood Borough Council arguing the development was dominated by four-bedroom homes and did not create “an acceptable housing mix”.While Bloor Homes has submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate challenging the grounds for refusal, amended plans for the same site are set to go before the council’s planning committee next week (3 May 2017) with a recommendation for approval.The scheme will now comprise more two and three-bedroom homes and some one-bed properties. Of the 160 dwellings, 48 will be affordable.All 2.5 storey units have also been removed from the application and the layout of the development has been tweaked to lessen the impact of the nearby Fairhaven Farm.Planning officers said the amended proposals have “overcome and addressed concerns”.However, nine letters of objection from local residents have been received by the council, along with an objection from Anstey Parish Council.