GO-AHEAD LOOKS LIKELY FOR MORE THAN 80 NEW HOMES IN GRIMSBY-AREA VILLAGE

                                                                                 

The field earmarked for a new housing estate

A CONTROVERSIAL scheme to build almost 100 new homes in a leafy Grimsby-area village looks set to be rubber-stamped later this week.

At a North East Lincolnshire Council planning committee meeting on Wednesday, members will be recommended to approve the new estate within the parish of Barnoldby-le-Beck.

If approved, an open agricultural field, which is currently used for grazing and producing haylage, will make was for 82 properties - six of two-bedrooms, 46 of three-bedrooms  and 30 of four bedrooms. 

The scheme is opposed by many villagers as well as Barnoldby-le-Beck, Bradley and Waltham parish councils - especially as it proposes 16 more properties than the 66 for which outline consent was granted some months ago.

Major concerns include the erosion of the countryside and village identity, road safety and traffic congestion. 

The applicant is Kevin Snape, of Snape Properties Ltd - the same firm which redeveloped the former Thrunscoe nursery site off Highgate in Cleethorpes.

This development is believed to be the first  in the borough to have incorporated bat roosting boxes which have been attached to some of the pines.

Following consultation with NELC's ecology officer, Rachel Graham, and trees officer Paul Chaplin, landscaping and wildlife considerations have been incorporated into Mr Snape's ambitious latest project.

For instance, new native trees, such as oak and hazel,  will be planted along with a range of wildflowers including corncockles.

Provisions will also be made to safeguard any water voles that visit the watercourses and perhaps also to encourage hedgehogs which are declining so fast in the borough that, sadly, local extinction beckons. 

In recommending approval of the application, senior planning case officer Richard Limmer says: "The very limited impact of countryside setting will not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the significant benefits to be gained in providing 82 new homes."

He adds: "The proposed development will make a significant contribution to underpinning the council's long term growth strategy."