New housing estate planned for Felstead
The proposals include an outdoor gym and children's play area
A new housing estate could be coming to the countryside near an Essex village, as developers launch their final detailed bid.
A planning application for 41 houses by Mulberry Homes in Watch House Green, just outside the village of Felsted, has been submitted to Uttlesford District Council and was validated on November 25.
The developers want to build the homes in grassland and scrubland in Clifford Smith Drive and near another new development by Taylor Wimpey, according to a design and access statement submitted alongside the plans.
A section read: “The proposal constitutes an acceptable development for the site in planning terms and that, if approved, will make a positive contribution to the regeneration of this part of Felsted.”
In addition to the houses, the proposals include an outdoor gym, complete with resistance training and exercising machines, and a children’s play area, as well as public and private open space for the future residents.
The houses themselves would be between one and five bedrooms, and the tenure split between private market sale and social housing. The council requires 40 per cent of major developments to be affordable housing, and these proposals are set to comply with this minimum policy.
They are proposed to be laid out around a brand new road, within the site. Vehicle access to the site would be from Clifford Smith Drive.
The applicant is seeking reserved matters permission, or permission for the final details over layout and appearance, having received outline planning permission on April 15 2020.
At outline stage, Felsted Parish Council previously objected to the plans, partly over the cumulative impact of housing numbers in the village and disagreeing it constituted a low density scheme.
The design and access statement also sets out a number of possible constraints which would face the development.
For example, existing power lines already run over the site from east to west. There are also a number of listed buildings north of the site, which could be impacted if the development is approved.
Each house will be complete with air source heat pumping, electric car charging points and will have access to footpaths and cycle paths, in a bid to improve the sustainability of the development.