South Kesteven District Council leaders delays Grantham housing project for value review
Plans for 21 council homes have been delayed after council leaders called for a review to determine whether they were “value for money”.
South Kesteven District Council’s cabinet today (Tuesday) was due to award a contract for building the new houses off Larch Close in Grantham.
However, council leader Ashley Baxter (Ind) told the meeting he had decided to defer the item to a future cabinet meeting to allow officers to review the value for money of the proposed development and ensure it meets current social housing needs.
“It is important that we ensure a scheme of this scale and cost provides value for money to the Housing Revenue Account and also that the scheme provides the offer that those in housing need actually require,” he said.
The plans for the affordable homes were approved in November 2023, despite some concerns over the loss of open space and noise.
The site is currently open space, with a village green to the north, a new waste depot to the south, and the A1 to the west.
Within the open space is part of a former play area, which has previously been the subject of anti-social behaviour and was removed from the site.
During the meeting in November, councillors raised concerns over the loss of open space and possible noise issues from both the A1 and the planned waste depot.
Nearby residents campaigned to stop development and were left in 'disarray' after the housing plans were unveiled.
In May, the council announced it would spend £6.5 million to buy 36 new homes, noting at the time that work on Larch Close would start in September, though this is now unclear.
The proposed housing mix would comprise six two-bed houses, a pair of four-bed houses, and 13 one-bed maisonettes, which would be split between a two-storey and a three-storey building.
Each two-bed house would have two parking spaces, each four-bed house three. The smaller apartment block would have five spaces, the larger nine, plus eight visitor spaces.
