The outcome of a controversial application to build more than 100 homes in a Fenland town will be decided tomorrow (Wednesday May 31).

Fenland District Council’s (FDC) planning committee will consider the proposal for the development in March at its next meeting, after some 88 objections to it were received as well as a local petition. 

Objectors say that the development, which would be built on the land south of 73–81 Upwell Road, would crowd the area and increase pressure on already strained services. 

Comprising of up to 110 buildings, it would also increase traffic and have a negative impact on wildlife, objectors say, and could cause issues with flooding and sewer capacity. 

But FDC’s planning officers have also recommended that the development be approved, writing in a report on the matter that they believe it “would not result in substantial harm”. 

READ MORE: Developer claims 109-home estate would be 'wholly appropriate'

Allison Homes, which brought the application, also says that it would provide affordable homes in the area: under current plans, 20 per cent would be designated affordable housing. 

Objectors have said that the development is “all about profit”, though, and said the town would struggle to cope with an influx of new residents. 

“I can honestly see very little benefit to encouraging more people to reside in our small town at this time,” one objector wrote in response to the planning application. 

“This infrastructure was not originally designed to cope with the volume of people living in the town today or for the development of population and housing growth that is currently being planned,” another wrote. “This has led to localised community problems.”

“In all an ill conceived proposal that’s all about profit,” added another. 

Particular concern was raised about local schools which are “already overcrowded”. 

The planning officers’ report notes that the site would be around 400 metres away from Cavalry Primary School. 

The land around the proposed development site has been the subject of controversy before. 

Another application – for just six homes – was recommended by planning officers for refusal in 2021 on the land south of 85-89 Upwell Road but approved at committee stage. 

It was then refused again when it returned to planning officers because “its layout, scale, massing and design fails to take account of the local natural character of the open countryside and the built character of Upwell Road.”

The refusal notice added that “an increase in comings and goings and activity to a degree that will adversely impact the current quite private amenity space enjoyed by the occupiers of 87 and 89 Upwell Road”.

It’s not unusual for a planning application to pass through committee stage then return to planning officers; this is because developers typically first apply for outline planning permission – which gives them permission for a development in theory – then submit their designs in a separate application. 

The application for up to 110 homes in March is an outline planning application, with designs expected at a later date if it’s approved next week.