Gayton homes application deferred as councillor describes plan as being 'almost like Legoland'

A reserved matters application for new homes in a West Norfolk village has been deferred to address issues with the proposal.

West Norfolk Council’s planning committee overwhelmingly agreed to defer the application for 19 new homes in Gayton on land north-east of Downely, Lynn Road, for phase three of the Howards Way development.

The application follows the granting of outline approval by the committee in March 2016.

Planning officers recommended the new application should be approved but objections were raised by the parish council on the grounds of density not being in keeping with the surrounding area

Councillor Michael de Whalley, who represents the Gayton and Grimston ward, said: “All the affordable housing is shoved into the corner of the site. There is very little privacy and the layout is complicated.”

Concerns were raised about a lack of a pepper-potting on the proposed site with councillor Martin Storey agreeing that three semi-detached units were “stuck in the corner”.

Councillor Tony Bubb described the application as a “punishment block” due to the size of the proposed plots, while councillor Tom Ryves labelled it as being “almost like Legoland with no space to breathe”.

Planning officers said the application did comply with policy but councillor Charles Joyce disputed that the site was tenure-blind.

Mr Joyce added: “The principle of pepper-potting should be adhered to in order to avoid large concentrations of single tenure dwellings and to achieve mixed and sustainable communities in which the accommodation is tenure-blind.

“Where are the garages? It seems all the others have garages expect for these three. It seems we can discriminate against people who are in affordable housing but no-one else in this country. That is simply disgraceful.”

Councillor Terry Parish also questioned who would pay for unserviced roads and the extent of the boundaries proposed.

The committee agreed to defer the application until the next meeting to address the concerns by a margin of 14 votes to two after a motion by councillor Michael Howland.