Over 70 new homes can be built in town centre despite concerns about ‘dominating buildings’

The green light has been given to plans to build over 70 new homes in St Neots town centre. The new homes are due to be offered as retirement housing, which the developer, Churchill Retirement Living Ltd, said is “much needed”. Concerns about the height of the development had been raised by some people in the area, however these concerns were dismissed following an inquiry.

Under the plans the TC Harrison Ford Garage, in Cambridge Street, will be demolished to make way for the retirement homes. The development is set to include 57 flats and 16 cottages, as well as communal facilities, such as a lounge area and a shared garden. The developer said the country had a “rapidly growing and ageing population” and that its plans would offer “much needed retirement living apartments”.

Over 10 objections were formally lodged against the application by people living nearby. One objector raised concerns that the new housing would “seek to dominate” the street. They said: “The increase in height in this locality will have a detrimental impact on both the reduction of natural light on the opposite properties, and be detrimental to the setting of the listed building. The site should ideally be developed to a lower physical height and a lower density of housing provision to more accurately reflect the surrounding area.”

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A decision on the application was made by a planning inspector after the developer submitted an appeal due to Huntingdonshire District Council not issuing a decision in time. The inspector considered the concerns raised about the impact of the development on neighbours and the nearby heritage buildings, but decided the new homes would not be harmful.

They said a daylight assessment had shown the development would not have a harmful impact on the living conditions of neighbours. The inspector said: “Given the combination of the proposed design, layout, scale, separation distances and orientation, the proposed change will not be of a magnitude that will cause mutual unacceptable levels of overshadowing or overlooking.

“Neither will it give rise to an oppressive outlook for the occupants of existing and future properties. Therefore, it is concluded that the appeal proposal will not harm the existing living conditions of the occupants of neighbouring properties, with particular regard to outlook, daylight, sunlight, privacy and security.”

The inspector added that the development would not harm the significance of heritage buildings in the area, and would actually “preserve the special architectural or historic interests” of nearby listed buildings. Planning permission for the development was therefore granted, subject to conditions.

For more planning notices in your area visit publicnoticeportal.uk .