New Kings Heath homes approved by councillors

The homes will be built on land at Derwent Drive, where part of the site was occupied by a block of 53 single garages which have since been demolished.

Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH) applied for the erection of five terraced two-storey houses, each with its own private rear garden approximately 13 metres long. Twelve off road parking spaces will be provided to serve the development including two disabled spaces, and six electric charging points.

A number of objections had been received from neighbours, primarily focusing on access to the site. Speaking at the Northampton Borough Council planning committee meeting on Tuesday evening (November 24), one neighbour told councillors that construction work on the site previously had a huge impact on his property due to the number of large vehicles using the narrow access route.

He said: “My crossover was destroyed and I had to have it re-done. Half my drive was destroyed and lorries were parking on the pavements, all the slabs were smashed and we had a water mains go. We’ve all installed CCTV because we had so much damage at the time.”

Gary Owens, for NPH, told councillors he would be managing the project. He said: “I can apologise on behalf of Northampton Partnership Homes if residents have suffered from the construction traffic that has taken place from previous contractors that was linked to the state investment plan. We have very good contractors that have operated on a number of garage sites across the town with very positive results, and we will address the width of the access from the beginning if that aids the situation.”

Mr Owens said NPH was building the new affordable homes as there were 2,600 people on the housing register, 440 of which have a three or four bedroom need which this site caters for. Of those applicants, 72 are in the Kings Heath area.

But ward councillor Terrie Eales shared concerns raised by the residents, telling the committee: “There’s already a massive issue with parking near Derwent Drive, it’s pretty much a one way street. It’s difficult for cars to get through already without there being an access point there.”

However members of the planning committee could see no planning reasons why they should turn the application down. Councillor Brian Markham, who sits on the committee, said: “I understand any construction site is difficult [for neighbours[ but it’s five homes and five families who need homes.”

Every councillor on the committee who was present for the discussion voted in favour of the proposals.