Application for 80 new homes is submitted

The bid, by Bellway Homes, is for land to the east of Main Street and north of Benlaw Grove, on the northern outskirts of Felton, and consists of a mix of two to four-bedroom homes, including some bungalows.

The plans would include 12 affordable homes (15 per cent of the total, in line with the county council’s emerging core strategy), parking, landscaping and open spaces, a drainage system and an access road off Main Street.

The 68 market homes would feature 21 three-bedroom homes and 47 four-bedroom properties, including two bungalows.

The 12 affordable units would comprise six two-bedroom bungalows and six three-bedroom dwellings.

A planning statement submitted with the application concludes: ‘The principle of the development of the site is acceptable.

‘The site can be delivered in the short term bringing forward a mix of dwelling types, including affordable housing, to meet identified local need and to diversify and extend the choice of housing on offer in the locality’.

It highlights social benefits which include the delivery of affordable homes to meet local need and growing the population of Felton, which will sustain ‘longer-term village vitality’.

In terms of economic benefits, the statement says that the proposals will ‘provide an injection of £9million of private-sector capital, which will deliver just under £1.2million in local GVA (the measure of contribution to the economy) per annum over the two-to-three-year build period’.

It will also ‘create 38 temporary direct construction jobs per year of construction and 58 indirect and induced ‘spin-off’ jobs in the supply chain, local shops and services’.

A public consultation event was held in November last year in Felton to unveil the proposals to residents.

According to the planning application, 57 per cent of those who attended supported new housing growth in Felton and 68 per cent supported affordable-housing provision, while 46 per cent supported housing at the proposed site.