What is this for? 

Development of 600 houses plus retail and care home just off the A167 in fields around Hartlea Avenue and the East Coast Mainline.

Objection Points

•  Design Code: The Local Plan and Skerningham Design Code checklist stipulate that planning applications should only be approved where they adhere with the adopted Comprehensive Masterplan and Design Code checklist. The Design Code checklist submitted with this application includes a significant number of entries marked as "N/A" under the Detailed Design Points section. The applicant has stated that, as this is an outline planning application, detailed design information is not yet available. However, this approach raises concerns as compliance with the Design Code checklist is a fundamental requirement at all stages of the planning process, including outline applications. The absence of sufficient design information makes it difficult to demonstrate that the proposal would achieve the design quality and character envisaged by the Comprehensive Masterplan and Design Code. As such, the submission falls short of the level of detail expected to enable a proper assessment against the Design Code checklist.

• Care home: Following public engagement and discussions with DBC, a convenience store and care home are now proposed within the site. What public engagement was this? The public had no say about the inclusion of a care home. This appears to have been decided during three closed-door Design Review meetings in June, July and September 2024. There is no mention of a care home in the September 2023 adopted Design Code, just local amenities such as a shop and cafe. The Garden Communities prospectus is clear that the local community must have a meaningful say from design to delivery. This planning application does not adhere with the adopted Design Code.

• Allotments: The Design Code says that with 600 additional homes, allotment space MUST form an important part of the masterplan of this area. There is no allotment space within the Beaumont Hill character area. The Skerningham Masterplan shows only one location for allotments and that is over in the Manor House View character area. This allotment site would be for 3,700 homes. This planning application does not adhere with the adopted Design Code.

• Road: The Indicative Masterplan document uploaded on the 24.03.25 still does not show the section of the local distributor road extending up to the East Coast Mainline. This does not comply with the Comprehensive Masterplan which says that in Phase 1 (450 houses built) the section of the local distributor road between the A167 and East Coast Mainline will be delivered. Planning applications have to adhere with the Comprehensive Masterplan.

• Primary school: Is some land definitely still safeguarded for a new primary school at Berrymead Farm which is within 200m of this site and which this planning application is saying that children generated from Beaumont Hill would likely utilise? Some residents seem to have been told by the developers of that site that this is no longer the case.

• Noise and light pollution: The additional traffic generated from this development will raise noise levels, particularly during peak hours, leading to an unacceptable impact on residential amenity. The positioning of the emergency access route will result in headlights shining directly into residents' properties during evenings and early mornings, causing disturbance, light pollution and loss of privacy. The emergency access route is now much closer to Mr and Mrs Durham's home since it has been extended, including their bedrooms and bathroom. This access route is being proposed to allow over a thousand vehicles for 600 dwellings on and off the development should the A167 be closed near to the main roundabout vehicle access point further up the already busy A167, in the event of a serious road traffic accident. The narrow green strip of land between Mr and Mrs Durham's and their neighbour's property is not wide enough to accommodate two-way vehicle access with space either side, therefore the developer's submitted documents and illustrations are incorrect.