Villagers say they fear being swamped by new homes

Gerry Kirt says that Glinton would welcome some new homes, but not 355

A parish councillor said people living in a village where new homes will be built feel "scared for their futures" and think they could be "swamped" with overdevelopment.

Glinton, near Peterborough, has been included in Peterborough City Council's draft local plan, which has called for more than 20,000 new homes to be built in the area by 2044.

The village has been earmarked for 355 homes, with nearly 800 extra homes under separate schemes also in the pipeline.

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson said the authority "understands the strength of feeling" in Glinton regarding developments that have been recently approved and proposed in the village.

Gerry Kirt, 70, the chairman of Glinton Parish Council, said the village "was not Nimby", which stands for Not in My Back Yard.

"A recent questionnaire around the village indicated that most [people] were happy to have modest development, but not to be swamped," he said.

He believed the infrastructure and services in the village would not support such growth and that locals were "scared for their future".

Mr Kirt said there may be other brownfield sites around Peterborough that could be more suitable for residential properties.

Gregg Duggan, 68, who has lived in Glinton for 32 years, said he could not believe the plans to bring so many new homes to the village.

"I went to the public meeting and the numbers of homes is just beyond belief, it will destroy the character of the village completely," he said.

Gregg Duggan thinks the idea of mass growth for the village was "preposterous"

Marisia Clifton, 78, who has lived in Glinton her whole life, said she has seen many houses be built in the village in the past, but so many new homes would lead to "overcrowding".

"I live opposite the Arthur Mellows Village College and the traffic is horrendous as it is - buses, cars, children on bikes. What is going to happen if there are even more children?" she added.

Ms Clifton said she was "mystified" as to why Glinton seemed to be the main village to receive all the extra homes, adding that she wondered why other surrounding villages "were not going to be touched".

Marisa Clifton says the new homes should be spread "more fairly amongst neighbouring villages"

Paul Bristow, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayor, said he was "100%" behind the Glinton residents and parish councillors.

"Glinton is a village – and needs to remain a village. I want to see more homes for young people and families.

"But that cannot be at the expense of rural communities. It's not fair that a place like Glinton that has already seen lots of development ends up having to take even more when there are plenty of options elsewhere," he added.

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: "The emerging local plan will guide growth across Peterborough and surrounding villages to 2044."

They added the authority had refused three applications for developments around Glinton earlier this year, but since then the way the government requires housing land supply to be calculated has been changed.

"In these circumstances, the council has made the difficult decision not to defend two of the appeals, following strong counsel advice that there was very little or no chance of success and a strong possibility of incurring costs," the spokesperson said.

"The council will still defend one of the appeals as there are a number of other reasons for refusal which still stand," it added.