Housing development is 'not appropriate' - council

Folly Farm on the edge of Yaxley has been earmarked for development

A council says it would "not be appropriate" to build more than 100 homes on a greenfield site earmarked for development.

Huntingdonshire District Council said Folly Farm off the A15 London Road in Yaxley, Cambridgeshire, was in a "sensitive location".

It raised concerns the development could effectively merge Yaxley with the new Great Haddon development, just south of Peterborough.

Developer Abbey Properties Cambridgeshire told the BBC it was "keen to progress the scheme" in Yaxley.

It is waiting for a decision on its planning application for 115 new homes on Folly Farm, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Separate to this application, Folly Farm was identified in a series of "land assessments" published by the council as part of its new local plan, a document which sets out ambitions for future development.

A public consultation on the local plan gets under way between 18 September and 27 November.

The council said Folly Farm was made up mostly of greenfield and farm buildings, so would not reuse or regenerate previously developed land.

"The site could however be appropriate for open spaces or biodiversity net gain opportunities which could tie in with proposed land uses," it said.

There are plans to build more than 5,000 homes at the Great Haddon development, between the A1(M) and Yaxley, with the first residents moving in this year.