Seven homes plan sparks fears over affordable housing and pupil safety in Uffculme
Uffculme Parish Council recommended refusal for the outline planning permission to construction the properties on Clay Lane
Plans to build seven new homes in Uffculme have been opposed by the parish council.
Uffculme Parish Council recommended refusal for the outline planning permission to construction the properties on Clay Lane.
Developer Gould Homes South West Ltd stated: “This comprises seven four bedroom houses with gardens and garages. The units will be distributed up the slope of the site accessed from a single route.”
However, writing to Mid Devon District Council as a statutory consultee, Uffculme Parish Council state: “The site is adjoining another site which has permission for five houses and a further adjoining site with permission for a further five houses. A further site was proposed in May 2020 for a further five houses.
“All of these sites share the same access onto a single-track road with no pavement.”
The council raised concerns over the size of the properties and the lack of affordable housing.
The council added: “The village suffers high property values due to the schools and it appears that these sites are proposed for people to 'buy into the village', rather than supporting locals who are often faced to move out of the village due to high property prices. A provision for social housing would assist local people.
“No sites have given any contribution towards social housing and a previous application was not required to make any provision to schooling, which given the sizes of the houses it is almost certain they will put additional pressure on the oversubscribed primary and secondary schools.”
The council added fears that the site would be too small.
“The council feels that the application on this small site is too dense, especially given the proximity in the indicative layout plan to neighbouring properties,” the statement said.
“This will have an impact on noise and light for all neighbouring properties.
“The access to the site is poor and given the proposed design the parish council feels that access for emergency vehicles would be poor in the event of an emergency.”
Fears over flooding were also raised.
“The parish council is aware of flooding issues along Ashley Road where the Victorian sewerage drain is not coping with the houses at present. It is anticipated that this development would look to divert additional sewerage through the drains in Ashley Road.
“No drainage plans have been submitted.”
It added that if the route is through Ashley Road, a special consideration should be placed to the current issues and the impact that this has on safe access to and from the primary school.
The council continued: “There is no footpath and the flooding in the road forces the children into the middle of the road - this is also a route for a double decker bus.
“The council would like to see an environmental survey as the council has been made aware that there are bats in the area, along with a selection of other wildlife.
“If bats are roosting in the barn within the field the development would be detrimental and should be refused.“
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