Plans for 196 homes at Barton, which would have been accessed via the planned relief road, have been rejected
An aerial view of Barton-upon-Humber.(Image: North Lincolnshire Council)
Plans for 196 homes on land off the A1077 Barrow Road, Barton-upon-Humber, have been refused by councillors. The proposal made by Strata Homes was refused by North Lincolnshire Council’s planning committee this week.
It would have been accessed via a new roundabout and the planned Barton relief road. Councillors were due to decide on it in February.
However, they delayed a decision to allow for negotiations between the developer and the council to achieve a higher S106 cash figure to fund local infrastructure. The month’s delay saw no change to a £490,000 base figure that the developer was prepared to agree to.
This itself was a sharp reduction, on financial viability grounds, to an original £2.2m figure. Refusal of the development, however, was on the basis of building outside Barton’s development boundary, rather than the offered S106 contribution.
Foul water drainage concerns
“Anglian Water have raised significant capacity concerns,” said objector Anne Cannell. “Their current situation and their current infrastructure cannot support any more developments until they have an upgrade,” she said, warning of flood risk otherwise.
She said she had emailed all councillors and local MP, Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) about the proposal. “He said, ‘I agree with all of the points you make’,” she said.
He told her he had discussed with Barton Ward Cllr Paul Vickers and council leader Cllr Rob Waltham (Brigg and Wolds Ward), “who are working hard to at the very least to minimise the impact of this development”. He had also recently had a meeting with Minister for Housing, Matthew Pennycook. Mrs Cannell also expressed scepticism that S106 cash committed to by the developer would not be seen by the council, noting Companies House lists eight currently outstanding charges to the company.
Strata Homes’ planning manager Katie Milnes said it had “worked proactively” with the council to ensure “a sustainable form of development” was brought forward. On the substantial redrawing of the original S106 contributions, she emphasised it was on viability grounds.
These had been “independently assessed by two chartered surveyors acting on behalf of the council”. Site abnormal costs included diverting overhead electric cables, earthworks and installation of attenuation tanks.
Viability assessments were based on an 18 per cent developer profit margin, but Ms Milnes said a council planning document deemed a 20 per cent return as acceptable. Strata had agreed since the February meeting to a clawback mechanism condition so more than £490,000 could be paid if the property values ended up higher than expected.
Emma Bilton, planning consultant assisting Strata, said a condition had been agreed with Anglian Water for no home to be occupied until April 2030, or sooner if Anglian Water introduced improvement works to its infrastructure. “It must be remembered that site was proposed for allocation in the proposed council plan,” she said, which was withdrawn due to increased Government housing targets.
Ms Bilton also noted the council is not in a position to show a five year housing supply. She added the development would create 57 jobs during its construction.
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‘Isn’t in Barton’s best interests’
Cllr Paul Vickers said the proposal “isn’t in the best interests of Barton or its residents”. “Expanding further into open countryside”, flood risk and drainage concerns, “inadequate” S106 contributions, and scale and design not in keeping with Barton, were his reasons for advocating for refusal.
Committee member Cllr Chris Patterson (Barton) swiftly moved for refusal on several grounds, but essentially that it was outside the development boundary. “This is a high-density development,” said Cllr John Davison (Bottesford). “This doesn’t reflect what Barton-upon-Humber is from the experience I’ve had.”
The proposed 196 homes were unanimously refused by the planning committee.
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