Housing association seeks to clear final hurdle with 80-home farmland plan
A HOUSING association is seeking to clear the final planning hurdle to build 80 new homes on fields on the edge of Totton.
Half of the properties will be designated as affordable, said the application from Aster Communities for farmland north of Loperwood Lane in Calmore.
Part of Aster Group, which rents out 30,000 homes across the south of England, it is picking up an outline plan for the 4.4-hectare site that was approved in 2017 after provoking more than 100 objections.
New Forest District Council had refused the original outline scheme from London-based Howard Sharp & Partners LLP in 2016.
But when company appealed, NFDC decided not to contest the public inquiry saying new legal guidance, issued amid a government push to increase housing supply, meant it was likely to lose at a possible cost to the taxpayer of £50,000.
The planning inspector waved the proposal through in principle – but it must still gain permission for the remaining details before work can begin.
The latest design shows 19 detached houses, 48 semi-detached houses, seven mid-terrace houses, and one block of six flats.
Parking for 189 cars is provided, with the main vehicle access being from Loperwood Lane to the south of the development.
The application said: “The development of 80 new homes on this site at the urban fringes of Calmore will make a significant contribution to local housing land supply in a sustainable and attractive location.”
The design intends to preserve a stand of trees around a pond in the centre of the field. There would also be public open space, two further new ponds and a pair of play areas.
The 4.4-hectare site, next to the A326, was originally bequeathed to Cancer Research UK and Open Sight. One-hundred properties were first proposed before being scaled back by 20.
Totton and Eling Town council was among the objectors in the first planning round, with one resident warning of an “environmental disaster”.
A decision on the reserved matter is expected from NFDC by mid-September after the deadline for public comments on 21st July.
