Newark Town Council planning committee objects to application to build five houses on Beacon Hill, Newark

A planning committee has objected to a proposal to build five self-build and custom-built detached houses with private drives.

At a recent Newark Town Council meeting, members opposed the construction at 150 Beacon Hill Road, Newark proposed by Mike Sibthorp Planning Consultants.

The proposed development will consist of “shell homes,” where the structures will be built as watertight shells, with the internal layouts customized by the future occupants.

The two-storey homes will feature either three or four bedrooms, although the exact layout will be determined by the first occupants during the custom build process.

The town council objected pending further studies as to the environmental impact of the development as outlined in the preliminary ecological appraisal.

Planning committee chairman Lisa Geary said: “We note on the district council plan this may be part of the area marked as a site of interest in nature conservation.

“We note on the photograph the amount of trees around the edge of the site and we would like more surveys done and more proposals to ensure that nature's protected.

“We look at the buildings and we would like to know more about what measures are going to be put in place to make them eco-friendly, etc.”

Concerns have also been raised over the strain on the drainage system in the area and the impact of another roadway joining Beacon Hill.

The 0.49-hectare site, currently occupied by a 1960s split-level house in poor condition, is set approximately 90 meters from Beacon Hill Road and it is proposed to be demolished.

The property forms part of a more extensive area that comprised part of the former Beacon Hill Works; which mined gypsum and produced plasterboard and bricks.

The area is currently undergoing redevelopment, with several small-scale schemes already completed or awaiting development.

This application follows earlier applications for seven dwellings on the site but planning permission was refused on the basis of the proposed access arrangements, dwelling mix, and ecological and tree matters.

Since then, the developer has worked with the planning authority to address these objections, reducing the number of dwellings from seven to five, and conducting additional ecological and arboricultural assessments to mitigate environmental impacts.