An alternative housing application will be considered at Saighton Camp near Chester to increase the number of homes by 100 to 266 but deliver just one extra affordable unit.
Cheshire West and Chester Council previously agreed a 20% affordable homes target for this part of the site which should mean an extra 20 affordable homes.
But CWaC accepts the explanation by applicants Redrow Homes that only one more affordable unit is viable. If approved, this would mean just 15% (60 homes) of the 395 homes in Area B will be designated ‘affordable’.
However, the latest proposals do include a contribution of £418,0000 towards education needs. A previous application for 166 homes included five extra affordable units but no education contribution.
Housing plan to be decided on Tuesday
The current proposals – recommended for approval at next Tuesday’s planning committee (February 2) – seek to increase the number of dwellings by 100 through a general reduction in the size of dwellings to address market demands.
There is approval for a total of 893 dwellings across the former Army camp land with many hundreds already completed.
Planning officer Steve Lewis concludes: “It is considered the proposals would provide additional housing that would make an important contribution to maintaining the supply of housing in the borough, including the provision of additional affordable housing to address the local housing needs, on previously-developed land and in a reasonably sustainable location.”
However, councillors will have the ultimate say after the application was ‘called in’ for a committee decision due to its large scale.
Ward member Cllr Mark Williams has relayed local concerns about whether the 1930s sewage system can cope with the proposed new houses and finds it ‘disappointing’ Welsh Water has been unable to formally respond to the application with a considered view.
He wants conditions in place in the event that measures for removing surface water prove inadequate. He also wants conditions regarding the extra education contributions towards local schools that will be needed and funding towards possible highways improvements such as traffic calming in Caldy Valley Road.
Huntington Parish Council objects on grounds of inadequate drainage and that the highway network can’t cope, arguing there is a need for a second main access road into the Saighton Camp site.
