Councillors upset at decision on housing
A parish council has accused its district counterparts of failing to listen to villagers, after plans to build a 150-home estate in Moulton were thrown out.
Members of Daventry District Council's planning committee have turned down a proposal to build 150 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes and affordable houses on land off Sandy Hill Lane, in Moulton.
The land is currently occupied by an industrial estate, however, many of the large warehouses on the site are lying empty.
The district council turned down the plan, put forward by Sandy Hill Developments Ltd, because it lies "outside the existing confines of Moulton", and was therefore considered to be an open space.
But the decision has been criticised by members of Moulton Parish Council. Councillors in the village fear the estate, which they said hadnow become an eye-sore, could now be taken on by an industrial firm.
They said that could mean "hundreds" of lorries would again rumble through Moulton on a daily basis.
Councillor Barry Care, the chairman of Moulton Parish Council, said the housing proposal would have also benefited the village as a whole, as it included plans for a new doctor's surgery, shops and other local amenities.
He said: "We thought very long and very hard about this because we could see all the disadvantages of 150 extra houses and all the additional traffic that it would bring. But we felt the pluses were far greater than the minuses.
"We don't want it to return to an industrial estate, that is the parish council's view."
Around 25 residents formally opposed the application, however Councillor Care said the parish council believed the benefits outweighed the negatives.
He said: "There was some opposition, some people do have concerns.
"We would not be happy with 150 houses just being plonked in the village. We were also very impressed with the amount of consultation that took place. We had three exhibitions where people could comment. We felt quite pleased that the community did have an impact in the planning process.
"For the village and community it would have brought a lot of benefits."
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