End in sight for ‘ski slope’ saga in Lincolnshire village as developers compromise on site levels
An ongoing saga[1] over a raised housing development site in a Lincolnshire village could finally be coming to an end. The 86-home development, led by Allison Homes, is being constructed on Roman Road in Moulton Chapel and will consist of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties.
It will see hundreds of people move to the quiet village as well as a financial investment into the local area. However, residents had many concerns with the site which led to works being halted before a single house could be built.
One of the main concerns was the height of the building site. The entrance, which had been described as a “ski slope”, was constructed at 4.4m higher than ground level at its highest point. This led to concerns regarding overlooking and lack of privacy, especially with residents whose homes back onto the site.
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Developers, Allison Homes, have agreed to reduce the height of the site to between 300mm and 500mm of its original ground level. Moulton Chapel resident, Willow Vickers, lives in one of the homes that backs onto the unfinished development. She said: “I still don’t like the idea of them building there but I can’t do anything about it now.
“Last summer was horrendous with vehicle after vehicle coming in and the noise and vibration from the heavy vehicles was unbearable. How it got to the state and the height it is, I don’t know. It wasn’t until us residents said something about it.
“At least it’s now coming down a bit. There will still be houses towering over us but at least not like great big skyscrapers. There’s nothing I can do about the development but hopefully it’s going to be normal rather than this raised eyesore.”
Willow Vickers of Roman Road, Moulton Chapel, is unhappy with the housing development being built right behind her house (Image: Lincolnshire Live)
Other concerns about the development included the surface water run-off caused by the slope and the noise, dust and vibration caused by the works. One resident, Ian Benton, lives opposite the development site and fears that the changes needed to be made to the site will cause even more disruption.
He said: “I just wonder how much of a mess they’re going to make. It was very dusty, dirty and difficult when they carted all of this stuff in.
“If they’re going to cart it all away then I can see it being just as messy and difficult, if not worse, because they did it in the spring and summer last time. Last summer, you couldn’t have your windows open because of all the dust.”
Mr Benton added: “The concern one would have is how much water was going to run down it. From what I understand, they will now restore it back to within 300 and 500mm of the original field level. It will be interesting to see.
“Brenda across the road is 107 and she doesn’t want to be flooded. Allison Homes can’t be very happy with the situation, they’ve got to do something and get it moving.”
Ian Reilly, Group Head of Planning for Allison Homes, said: “We are pleased that South Holland District Council’s Planning Committee has approved our Discharge of Conditions application which allows us to return to site and reduce the height of the development. After engaging positively with the Parish Council, we hope that this permission will now allow the development to be completed and end any concerns of the local community.
“We are now undertaking some preliminary assessments, but we expect work to begin relatively quickly to amend the ground levels and we will seek to ensure disruption to local residents is minimised.”
References
- ^ ongoing saga (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Get the latest Lincolnshire Live news with our email newsletters (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)