Homes could compromise village and city 'buffer'

115 homes could be built on the edge of Yaxley in Cambridgeshire

There are concerns a major new housing development on the edge of a village could "compromise the buffer" between it and a city - if it is allowed to be built.

Local politicians said plans for 115 new homes in Yaxley in Cambridgeshire would erode its boundary with Peterborough.

But Huntingdonshire District Council said it would not fight the developer's appeal to build the homes at Livery Stable Folly Farm, after previously refusing planning permission.

Abbey Properties Cambridgeshire Ltd escalated their proposals to the Planning Inspectorate, which is considering the appeal.

At a hearing on Tuesday, lawyers representing the council said there had been changes in the national calculations that determined how many homes must be built in the area to meet housing demand.

'Overdevelopment'

Barrister Rowan Clapp said the council still believed that the homes would impact the visual and physical separation of Yaxley and the nearby Great Haddon development in Peterborough, but that it accepted this did not outweigh the benefits of extra housing.

The planning inspector who led the hearing is yet to make a final decision on overturning the council's original refusal.

Reuben Taylor KC, representing the developer, said at the meeting that there was no specific local policy stopping Yaxley and Peterborough from merging.

Developers said 40% of the new homes would be designated as affordable.

Yaxley Parish Council maintained its objection to the plans, raising concerns about "overdevelopment".

Chair Andrew Wood said the housing would "compromise the buffer between Yaxley and Peterborough", which he described as a "confined area".

"The fact that Huntingdonshire has a requirement for a significant number of houses does not mean, in our view, that Yaxley should be compacted even more," he said at the hearing.

"Yaxley has taken its share already. Other areas should do so."

Developers would have to submit specific design plans before any houses could be built if the Planning Inspectorate agreed to quash Huntingdonshire District Council's earlier planning refusal.