Around 40 new homes planned for Sturminster Newton
Two new housing schemes are being considered for the North Dorset town of Sturminster Newton
Two housing schemes for Sturminster Newton could bring almost forty new homes to the town.
The details of up to 29 homes have been agreed on the Clarkes Yard site off Bath Road with another eight being approved off Glue Hill.
The larger of the schemes was previously granted outline permission with the details of appearance, landscaping and other matters now approved by Dorset Council.
A mixture of houses and flats is planned which the town council raised no objection to saying that the development conforms to the neighbourhood plan. The site was once a railway cutting and following that had been used as a builders’ yard.
Homes nearest to the site entrance will be up to 2.5 storeys in a neo-Georgian style said to be typical of other developments elsewhere in the town. Trees on the northern and southern boundaries will be retained with new trees and boundary hedges to be planted around the site.
The smaller scheme is on land belonging to Orchard House which will result in the drive to the home being re-routed.
The 0.35 hectare site, a former pasture and garden, is recognised for housing in the neighbourhood plan.
Two 4-bed detached houses, five 3-bed and one 2-bed with fifteen additional parking spaces have been approved on the plot. The layout will be for three pairs of semi-detached and two detached homes. Some changes to the original proposals were made during the consultation process.
Ash trees fronting the site are to remain with a suggestion that they be supplemented by other species to protect the view should the Ash later suffer, as many others have, from disease and have to be felled. Other areas of the site are to be supplemented with new planting.
Concerns had been raised by neighbours during the consultation about the effect of extra traffic from the Orchard House site which, with traffic from a nearby site for almost 50 homes, could add an extra 100 cars to the busy A357 road.
One objection also raised concerns about the effect on wildlife.
The site is on rising land between the A357 and Barton Close, a small cul-de-sac of modern single storey homes.