A HOUSING development comprising of 67 affordable homes in Evesham has been recommended for approval by Wychavon’s planning team.
The proposed estate, just off the Pershore Road to the south west of the town centre, will go before the council’s planning committee on Thursday, August 15.
Applicants, Stonebond Properties, aim to build 67 homes made up entirely of affordable housing flanked by a landscaped open space to the west and north of the properties.
The homes would comprise of semi-detached and terraced properties of varying sizes including one, two, three, and four bedroom options.
The development’s open space would see the addition of native trees, hedgerows, shrubs and other fauna, a wetland area, and sediment basins for floodwater run off. All of which would be accessible via a looping mowed grass path.
Accessible from Stewart Close, the housing estate would feature a curved road for access to properties with associated off street parking and some private drives.
Despite the proposed open space improvements, the development is estimated to only achieve a biodiversity net gain of 0.28 per cent. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust (WWT) has objected to the proposals as a result.
The objection from WWT said: “In our experience there are very few schemes implemented perfectly and so we would anticipate the proposed development would in fact lead to demonstrable net loss of biodiversity.”
Worcestershire County Council requires developments not to make a biodiversity net loss and make gains where possible.
Various other reservations have been raised by agencies and local authorities throughout consultation. Evesham Town Council recommended the application be refused because it is located outside of the town’s permitted development boundaries.
The town council also believes the entrance to the site will be too narrow for the scale of the development. These concerns were previously echoed by Worcestershire County Council’s (WCC) highways department, however the council now has no objections to the proposals, subject to conditions, after the developer actioned previous requests from WCC highways.
Labour’s proposed changes to the national planning policy framework will require nearly 500 more homes to be built annually across Wychavon. That’s an increase of 97 per cent on previous targets. Wychavon’s annual housing need was previously 586, the changes would require 473 more annually.
Visit https://plan.wychavon.gov.uk/Planning/Display/W/23/01269/FUL for more information.
