Five Year Supply Application for 60 Homes and Business Units

Planning approval was achieved for 60 homes and 580 square metres of business space on behalf of a local developer and landowner in the village of Kentford in Suffolk.

The application site was outside the development boundary of the village and around 20% of the site had a longstanding draft local plan allocation for development.

The lack of a five year housing supply, and the slow progress towards adoption of the Councils development plan meant that to gain consent for housing on the site it was not sensible to wait for the adoption of the local plan. Three other landowners in the village had submitted, or were proposing to submit planning applications for housing development. The council considered that the total of the homes proposed in the four planning applications was too great a number for the village to absorb.

With our client we careful considered our planning application proposal in order to meet the requirements of the local planning policy, and also to address where possible the local needs of the village. The design of the development required careful consideration to address traffic noise from the A14 dual carriageway, the setting of a Grade 2* listed parish church, and the amenity of neighbouring homes. The extensive tree cover on the site, and the onsite ecology, including a nearby a Special Protection Area for Stone Curlews resulted in the need to address complex landscape and ecology issues with Natural England and other consultees.

The planning application was approved by the planning committee. Our application was the only one of four planning applications for new housing around the village to be supported by the local Council or supported at appeal.