Masterplan to co-ordinate three Barrowby housing developments recommended for approval by South Kesteven District Council

A masterplan to encourage a co-ordinated approach of three village housing developments has been approved by a district council cabinet.

Members of South Kesteven District Council cabinet agreed on Monday to recommend a masterplan for three developments across fields in Barrowby to full council.

The handbook will aim to help three developers – Persimmon Homes, Allison Homes and Platform Housing – to launch a co-ordinated building programme, which will see a total of up to 270 homes built across three pockets of land at a maximum density of 35 dwellings per hectare.

The developers are already subject to rules set out in the council’s Local Plan, but SKDC hopes the masterplan will ensure that the site is “developed in a comprehensive, holistic and coordinated manner”.

SKDC’s cabinet member for housing and planning, Councillor Phil Dilks (Ind), said the three sites require “a masterplan to be approved for the site to ensure that the developers work together where possible”.

He added: “The comprehensive masterplan has been adopted as a result of extensive engagement between officers, developers and the local community and has involved formal consultation with Barrowby Parish Council, local residents and all the statutory consultees.”

Coun Mark Whittington (Con) spoke at the cabinet meeting as a county councillor for the area and as a member of Barrowby Parish Council.

Coun Whittington, who lives in the village, said: “We have certainly found in Barrowby that two of the three developers, Persimmon Homes and Allison Homes, have met both ourselves and the wider community in Barrowby and have done a wide range of presentations.

“We’ve had quite a good level of communication with them. Unfortunately, the same could not have been said of Platform Housing Group, who are the third developer.

“This document talks about a masterplan for the three developers. The reality is that knowing this masterplan was coming forth, Platform Housing decided to build their 49 houses and the supermarket they are contracted to build before the masterplan was put into place and that has actually caused quite a lot of anger in Barrowby.

“Admittedly, now that the Platform houses are in, they have listened to a certain extent to some of our design concerns, but the real concern of Barrowby Parish Council is not with Persimmon and Allison, but the fact that Platform were allowed, in effect, to get out of this masterplan by building their houses first before it was adopted.”

Coun Whittington said that parish council had “potentially” lost £32,000 of money contributed by the developers towards community improvements in Barrowby, which are called section 106 agreements.

He said: “Potentially, now we’ve got a section 106 issue in Barrowby that I will be raising with the head of planning and chief executive, because the view of Barrowby Parish Council is that potentially we have lost £32,000 of section 106 monies which has not gone down well in the local community at all.”

Nigel Eaton, chair of Barrowby Parish Council, responded to the masterplan.

He said: “Whilst we appreciate the joined up approach to this development, it is of course disappointing that the significant funds earmarked for developments inside the Barrowby parish have been a lost due to an SKDC ‘officer error’.

“We also have some serious questions around maintenance of the green areas and the transport plan. Thankfully the developers have proved very helpful and approachable in this regard so we expect to resolve those.”

SKDC say the masterplan document has been the subject of public consultation as part of the normal planning application process.