Final details submitted for Derbyshire housing scheme
PLANS to confirm the final details of a controversial Derbyshire housing development have been submitted.
Members of the South Derbyshire District Council planning committee approved plans from Providence Land for 57 homes in Lucas Lane, Hilton, in July last year.
Now, Morris Homes has submitted an application confirming the final details of the approved scheme.
The application details how a pond designed to gather floodwater has been shifted away, from the roadside on the southeast corner of the site, to the south of the site between the proposed homes.
Meanwhile, the 400 sq m children’s play area will now sit alongside Lucas Lane, instead of next to the former site of the floodwater pond.
It also shows how the roads within the development, and several plots, have been “tweaked” to allow for vehicles to move and park more freely and to provide larger gardens for would-be residents.
Of the 57 homes on the scheme, 17 would be affordable homes.
The breakdown of affordable housing would be: two one-bed houses, nine two-bed houses and six three-bed houses.
The remaining 40 market houses would be broken down as follows: five two-bed houses, 16 three-bed houses, and 19 four-bed houses.
All but four of the homes would be two storeys tall, with two bungalows and two two-and-a-half storey houses.
There would be three “parking courts” in which parking spaces would be gathered for a number of homes. Each home would also have its own parking spots.
Homes in the north of the site, closest to the A50, have been branded a “special location” for “high-profile housing”.
The main access to the site would remain off Lucas Lane to the east.
Morris Homes says in a report filed with its application: “Our scheme has evolved through pre-application discussions and now represents a robust design solution that will deliver an inviting, functional and aesthetically pleasing new residential development for Hilton.”
The district council will make a decision on the application in the next few months.
When the initial plans for Lucas Lane were submitted, residents and local ward councillors came out in force against the “ridiculous” development. They highlighted that noise and disruption from the nearby A50 roundabouts and slip roads, bordering the site to the north, would be unacceptable for would-be residents.
On top of this, they decried the loss of valuable green space within Hilton, which has been the centre of new housing development south of Derby for the past 20 years.
A key point made by residents and councillors was also the safety of schoolchildren who walk and cycle up Lucas Lane to and from John Port Spencer Academy in Etwall.
The route had been deemed safer than others along Derby Road, though this still leaves students navigating the A50 slip roads and roundabouts.
When the scheme was approved last summer, the agent for the application, on behalf of Providence Land, had said the site provided affordable housing and was arranged to reduce noise levels.
The also said that the frontage along Lucas Lane would be “broken up” with open space.