Plans for a nearly 200-home development in Halesworth progress
A cycle and footpath will connect the site to new sports facilities
Progress has been made for a 188-home development in Halesworth as a council approved details about appearance and house types.
Half of the development will sit in Halesworth town’s boundary and the other half will be part of Holton parish.
Tuesday’s decision by East Suffolk Council followed its granting of outline planning permission in October 2019, which accepted the principle of building up to 190 homes on a site south of Harrisons Lane.
The reserved matters application encompassed elements not included in outline permission, such as housing mix – which showed 56 of the homes will be classed as affordable and 83 will be designated as “accessible and adaptable”.
A cycle and footpath will connect the site to new sports facilities proposed by Halesworth Campus and a path along the southern boundary will link to the campus site.
Improved pitch facilities at Halesworth Campus will be funded through a £1.64 million community infrastructure levy (CIL) payment by developers.
This will join other CIL payments - for example, developers have already given £624,000 for the expansion of Bungay High School and over £1.36 million to expand Edgar Sewter Primary School – both of which have been completed.
Against some recommendations
The decision by East Suffolk Council was in line with officer recommendations but against those of Halesworth Town Council, which proposed refusal until neighbours’ worries were addressed.
The town council also referred to the small house sizes being inappropriate for families, the site entrance lying directly opposite a property, road safety and lack of parking.
The entrance to the site from Harrisons Lane was decided during outline application stage. The road will be widened to meet Highway Authority requirements.
Plans include 402 parking spaces across the development, which will include on-street, frontage, on-plot and garage parking. This number was based on an allocation of one spot for one-beds, two spots for two and three-beds and three spots for four-beds.
Objections
Ten letters of objection have been submitted by members of the public, citing problems including lack of doctors services and school places, traffic problems and lack of need for the homes.
One and two-bedroom homes will make up 42 percent of the development, 31 percent of homes will have three bedrooms and 26 percent will have four bedrooms.
The properties will be two-storey aside from 15 bungalows, while nine plots will be earmarked for custom-built properties.
The 56 affordable homes will comprise 26 two-bed houses, 16 one-bed flats, 11 three-bed houses, and three two-bed bungalows.
Affordable homes tend to be those that are at least 20 percent below local market value.