Dozens of residents are objecting to plans for 149 homes on farmland in a Nottinghamshire village – but initial permission is expected to be given soon.
The homes have been proposed off Alfreton Road, Selston, near the Bull and Butcher pub.
A large retail unit within the development also forms part of the plans.
Ashfield District Council is recommending that outline permission be granted at a planning meeting on Wednesday (10 December).
This means councillors will decide if the development is acceptable in principle before signalling the green light for detailed plans at a later date.
Planning documents say 34 residents have objected.
Robert Munro, of Portland Road in Selston, said: “I strongly object to any large development on green spaces in the local area.
“This is mainly due to the adverse effects it will have on the environment and wildlife habitat.
“In addition, Selston is a large village whose services and facilities are already stretched. Schools are full, the doctor’s surgery is very busy, the pharmacy is busy. Roads are busy enough, and this plan would increase traffic and road noise, and create severe issues both during and following building works.”
Another objecting resident, Jackie Chadbund, added: “The proposed land for development in the green belt is crucial for the wildlife – sparrowhawks, buzzards, owls – that need these open fields for their hunting grounds, also taking into account hedge sparrows and bats, both seriously in decline, that nest within the surrounding area.
“How much more of their habitat do we take away before it is all gone?”
The site, which is classed as ‘grey belt land’, was first deemed suitable for housing in 2021 under the council’s local plan.
Grey belt land includes areas of the protected green belt that are considered “low quality”.
The development of grey belt land is bound by a set of ‘golden rules’, including that proposals should deliver affordable housing, improve local infrastructure, and deliver or improve existing green spaces and open them up to the public.
Many of the objections urged the council to use brownfield sites – vacant sites that have been developed previously – but the local plan notes that Ashfield cannot meet all the housing needs using brownfield sites alone.
Cllr Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), council leader, previously described the local plan as “controversial”, but said the authority had done work to try to make it as positive as possible.
About 25 per cent of homes in the scheme would be classed as affordable housing.
In the decision to recommend outline permission for approval, the council’s planners said: “The application site is located within the named settlement of Selston, where ‘limited’ development is permitted.
“The council is only considering the principle of the development, and whether access is appropriate, as part of this outline planning application. The potential impact upon neighbours would be subject to consideration and assessment at a later date.
“It is considered that, given the merits of the proposal relative to the application site, the development would constitute grey belt and meet the relevant ‘golden rules’ – and as such, would be an appropriate form of development within the green belt.
“Whilst it is acknowledged that the development would result in built form being introduced to currently undeveloped fields, it would not impact upon the most important landscape character aspects.
“The scheme provides an opportunity to improve local ecology, which will also support protected species. The use of conditions to secure a plethora of biodiversity enhancements is proposed. The application site does not constitute ‘best and most versatile agricultural land’.”
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