Plans are submitted for 51 affordable homes in Ayton

A 3D view of the Ayton housing development site from Summerhill Park.

The development, on land south of Ayton Primary School at Beanburn, includes a mix of two, three and four-bed family homes, plus one-bed and three-bed bungalows and two wheelchair-accessible bungalows.

The scheme is designed to provide housing for varying needs of tenants, plus houses suited to older people, and the housing association says that ‘the proposed housing mix has been carefully considered to help address specific local housing needs’.

The site of the BHA housing development at Ayton, from Summerhill Park.

Once built, the houses will be rented by BHA which already owns the land as well as owning and managing the housing development immediately to the north and east of the site.

In its application, BHA says: ‘The proposed development will create a distinctive new neighbourhood within the village of Ayton as well as addressing local affordable housing needs.’

In February last year, BHA commissioned a housing needs assessment of Ayton by Rural Housing Scotland and, based on the recommendations in that report, BHA has requested that the design proposals should include two six-person four-bed houses, a limited number of one-bed bungalows and two, three-bed bungalows.

BHA says it plans to construct the new housing scheme in at least two phases.

The properties are designed to maximise sunlight.

The land has been prone to flooding in the past and, prior to the planning application, the housing association installed a flood alleviation basin adjacent to the four houses on Lawfield Drive, which so far has been effective at mitigating flooding issues.

A local organisation called Abundant Borders currently has a short-term lease to grow vegetables on an area of land to the south east of the site and the housing scheme has been designed to retain that area.

Pre-application public meetings drew generally enthusiasm for more affordable housing and a wider selection of housing types but the capacity of Beanburn to accommodate increased traffic was raised, as was drainage capacity in the area and the impact of the construction process on the neighbouring primary school and surrounding area.