CONTROVERSIAL HOUSING PLAN REJECTED AFTER MORE THAN 100 COMPLAINTS
CONCERNS WERE RAISED OVER ACCESS TO SITE
A CONTROVERSIAL housing plan in Humberston has been rejected after more than 100 complaints from residents.
The plan, would have seen 14 homes built t on a field off South View, just off of North Sea a Lane.
The development has had significant criticism since it was originally submitted as an application for 18 homes and initially rejected by the planning committee in July 2019.
It was then turned into a 15 house plan and resubmitted in June 2020, before eventually being changed to 14.
However, residents were still quick to criti- cise the plan and object to the housing devel- opment for a number of reasons, including g flood risks, access to the road, and concerns s over wildlife on the field.
The Humberston Parish Council also rejected the plan, suggesting that it could be given back to the people of Humberston and used in a different way which would benefit residents.
It was recommended for approval, but due to the number of complaints raising concerns over road access to the site, councillors rejected the plan with seven votes to one. Councillor David Hasthorpe, of the Wolds Ward, was the first to put in a motion to reject the application.
Cllr Hasthorpe said: “I don’t think I’ve seen, in my time on the planning committee, as
many objections as I have seen for this planning application.
“What I am concerned about is the access and the egress from this particular site, and I don’t think that’s been addressed within this application.
“I am very much on the side of the residents and the parish council, and I have serious misgivings about this development, so I am actually going to recommend refusal on those grounds.
“On the grounds of access and the number of objections. At the end of the day, the people of Humberston have to live with this development if this goes ahead, and I think we should support the residents and the Parish Council.” Councillor Tim Mickleburgh, of South Ward, seconded Cllr Hasthorpe’s motion.
He said: “I’d like to second what Cllr Hasthorpe has said. I think this is another case where there’s a sheer number of objections by local residents and the desire of the Parish Council.
“As Cllr Hasthorpe pointed out, while this is not a planning issue, the fact that it may be possible for the Parish Council, at some stage in the future, to take this land into their ownership and keep it as an open space has to be highly commended.
“For the reasons that Cllr Hasthorpe has said, I will second the objection.”
There were voices against rejecting the plan, including Haverstoe ward councillor
Bill Parkinson.
He said: “I do feel we’re on sticky ground refusing this in the face of no proposal from the council. If the Parish Council had put in a proposal or a counter-bid, I can quite see the point in going down that route.
“My main objection to this, really, is that it’s a shame it’s going to vanish as a piece of land in the middle of housing, which is hardly planning grounds for refusal.
“That and the fact that it will turn
hundreds dogs out onto the streets to be walked around causing a mess.
“I actually did go down yesterday and have a walk around this area, and I didn’t know it was there, I was quite surprised it was this patch in the middle of nowhere. “Everything stacks up for the original recommendation, which is for approval. It goes against the grain a little bit but I think I’m going to have to go for approval.
“Even though most of us don’t want to see it go down to housing, I don’t think we have planning grounds to refuse it.
“Every agency and consultee is for it, the access, I don’t know. I didn’t think it was that bad, 14 is not a lot and I think they soon merge in.”
However, he went on to vote against it, after t the suggestion it would buy more time for the P Parish Council to submit a counter-offer or formal plan for the land.
A local residents group which was standing against the plans, “Save The Field”, reacted to the news on their social media page. They wrote: “Great News. The planning committee have refused permission. However this will almost certainly be subject to an appeal.
“The reason it was refused was effectively to give the Parish Council time to approach North East Lincolnshire Council and ask them to donate the land to the Parish Council so that they can maintain an open piece of green land for the residents of Humberston.
“We now need to make sure that we let the Parish Council know exactly what we want and what they should do.”