Southwell Town Council set to discuss modified plans for 45-house development on land to the rear of The Vineries, off Lower Kirklington Road

Plans for a new 45-house development on the site of former agricultural land, allotments and an orchard have been labelled as a “muddle of contradictions and inconsistences”.

Access to the site to the rear of The Vineries, off Lower Kirklington Road, was agreed in 2021 for an up to 45-house development, and includes the creation of a mini-roundabout at the junction of Lower Kirklington Road and Kirklington Road.

The highways arrangements and design has sparked opposition to the scheme – which is due for debate tonight.

The land was included in Newark and Sherwood District Council’s 2013 Allocations and Development Management Development Plan Document – it was designated for residential use with a landscape buffer on the boundary with Kirklington Road.

In October 2023 the applicants – Cameron Homes Ltd, Sir John Starkey, Keith Maxey, Katherine Maxey, John Judson, Ann Judson, and Richard Mullard – submitted a reserved matters application to determine the appearance, landscaping, layout and scale of the development.

It was validated by the district council in the same month, although this was challenged by Southwell Town Council as plans revealed the five existing houses at The Vineries planned to connect to the new access instead of its existing driveway on Kirklington Road, which would mean it was serving up to 50 homes rather than the approved 45.

Southwell Town Council’s correspondence in January 2024, following a planning committee meeting in December 2023, stated: “There was no indication that other, existing properties would utilise the new access and it was on this basis that the Highway Authority considered and NSDC approved the outline application.

“It is Southwell Town Council's contention that the current reserved matters application is not valid and cannot be determined as it stands; and that a new planning application, either outline or full is required unless the current application is amended to show the approved access being used by no more than 45 new and existing properties.”

An updated site layout plan provided in January 2024 removed the connection to the existing homes, and the revised plans are set to be discussed by Southwell Town Council tonight (Wednesday, March 6).

A mixture of detached, semi detached and terraced properties and bungalows are proposed, including 31 open market homes, eight social rented homes, and six shared ownership homes.

Housebuilder Cameron Homes’ proposed properties would be brick-built with traditional detailing, have areas of render, Tudor-boarding, traditional canopies and door surrounds and brick garden walls.

The access road will cut through the centre of the site, with a number of homes facing directly onto it and further properties set back in groups on private drives.

The site is also planned to have a central green space with trim trail play area, areas of managed woodland along the boundary with Kirklington Road, two ponds and drainage swales.

Nottinghamshire County Council, as the highway authority, have objected to the development due to a lack of turning facility for delivery vehicles on the private drive serving plots 15 to 19, insufficient and improper bin collection points, a lack of vehicular visibility splays on plot 38, and incorrectly sized pedestrian visibility splays.

The authority also noted “there is no speed attenuation and the length of this road exceeds that permissible. It is unlikely that this can be resolved with layout due to the shape of the development land and therefore suitable traffic calming measures are required”. It added that one of the house types indicates an upstairs study, stating that the: “Highway authority do not accept this and this house should be counted as a four-bed house. However, this should be provided with three spaces whether three or four-bed.”

Southwell Civic Society has strongly objected to the application, it stated in correspondence in February, and claimed the planning application was a “muddle of contradictions and inconsistences”.

The society outlined its concerns with ‘inconsistent’ drawings of boundary lines, lacking or unclear buffer strips along boundary hedgerows, and the housing mix failing to meet the requirements of Southwell’s draft Neighbourhood Plan — which calls for more three-bed homes and no more four or five-bed homes.