Plans to build 300 homes near school approved

Plans to build 300 homes on the edge of Ely have been approved

Plans to build 300 homes on the edge of a city have been approved by a council.

The development, on land to the north of the Isle of Ely Primary School in Ely, Cambridgeshire, will be the fifth phase of a wider Orchards Green development - where about 1,200 homes are due to be built.

The new homes are to be a mix of one and two-bedroom flats and two to five-bedroom houses, and 120 of these are proposed to be made available as affordable housing.

Councillors at East Cambridgeshire District Council approved the plans despite some concerns about the lack of amenities, such as such as shops and play parks.

However, planning officers said this phase of development was "purely residential" and that a convenience store would be built in a separate phase of the wider development.

They added that the plans did include a toddler play area, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Paul Belton, a representative of the developer Bellway Homes Limited (Eastern Counties), told councillors at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday that the plans would offer "extensive areas of open space", as well as allotments and play areas.

He said Bellway hoped to start building these "much needed homes" in the next couple of months.

Although a majority of committee councillors ultimately voted in favour of approving the application, some echoed the concerns about amenities, drainage and bin collections.

A large number of the roads in the development are not expected to be adopted by Cambridgeshire County Council for future maintenance and questions were raised about whether bin lorries would be able to operate in private roads.

Planning officers suggested a condition could be added requiring bin collection plans to come back to the district council for sign-off if a road was not adopted and no indemnity agreement was signed.