Plan for 400 Swaffham homes wins OK
A £25 MILLION-PLUS scheme to build 400 new homes on a site south of Swaffham has been given the go-ahead by Breckland councillors.
Developer Gladedale (Anglia) Ltd was on Monday given outline permission for 265 homes and full planning permission for 135 houses on 26.4 acres of the former Redland Tiles site, off Brandon Road, by Breckland's development control committee.
The council's principal planning officer Nick Moys, who recommended permission be granted subject to a legal agreement and conditions, said the scheme would make an important contribution to affordable housing locally with 130 of the homes in this category.
Earlier this year, Bidwells, agent for the development, held a public meeting in Swaffham to outline the plans and said the homes would be mostly two and three-bedroomed houses and one to two-bedroomed flats, with a few four to six-bedroomed houses.
Concerns were raised at that meeting about extra traffic being generated as residents would need to use cars to reach the town centre because of the remoteness of the site.
There were also doubts about whether existing services could cope with a big influx of people.
But on Monday councillors were told that Gladedale had agreed to pay 40,000 to extend footpaths and cycleways on Brandon Road and 60,000 towards improving bus services in the area, including a possible on-demand bus into the town centre.
In addition, it will invest 507,500 in creating a multi-use sports area on the Hamond's High School site for community use, provide three recreational areas on the new estate and build a roundabout on the A1065 at the access point to the new development.
Swaffham Town Council recently praised Gladedale for accepting suggested changes to building designs and the overall layout, and for making the access roundabout larger than originally envisaged and increasing on-site parking from 600 to 800 spaces.
It is also pleased by the funding towards a bus service and the prospect of improvements being made to road junctions at Watton Road and Haspalls Road, as part of the legal agreement, to ease the flow of traffic into the town centre and stop the A1065 clogging up.
Swaffham Town Mayor Shirley Matthews said: "We would have preferred development east or west to keep everything together and nearer shops and transport, but it's good to have further expansion to help local businesses."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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