Will rejected plans for a new 850-home development go ahead?

After nearly three hours of discussions, plans to build a new housing development of up to 850 homes were rejected by West Northamptonshire Council

It had received more than 500 letters of objection and two in support of the proposed estate that would be built near Grange Park on the outskirts of Northampton.

Despite council officers recommending it for approval, the strategic planning committee rejected it.

But is that the end of the road for these new homes?

The proposed housing estate, led by Manor Oak Homes, was set to be built on 43.6 hectares (107 acres) of agricultural land between Grange Park and Quinton.

As well as the homes, the site would provide a new local centre, land for a new primary school, open space including an extension to the adjacent country park, community allotments and pedestrian and cycle links.

The plans also stated that 45% of the residential units, equivalent to 382 homes, would be rented affordably, which is a greater proportion than required by West Northamptonshire Council's policy.

As well as 534 letters objecting, six of the neighbouring parish councils and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England also put forward opposition to the plans.

One objector, Clare O'Brien, said: "The majority of people are dead against it because they love this as a country park. They feel if we have any more houses, it's going to swallow up the community."

Davinder Ubbi said: "I love the green space, that's why I come here. I love the walks, and if that was to go, I think that would be really sad."

Concerns were also raised about potential pressures on GP appointments and school places, and the buffer between the two communities of Grange Park and Quinton being destroyed.

David Cowan said: "I do accept that homes have to be built somewhere, no-one wants them in their own backyard. But then Grange Park was in someone's backyard before that was built in 2003. I definitely didn't want it, but I think it will happen."

Council officers recommended that planning permission should be granted.

They concluded, in a report, that the landscape and visual harm "do not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the identified substantial benefits and the contribution the proposal would make to the government's objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes".

Geoffrey Armstrong, who spoke on behalf of the developers, said the plans had been with the council for three years, which he added was one of the longest applications he had ever dealt with.

He said: "We discussed all the comments that came in, and none were left unresolved."

Sally Keeble, the leader of the Labour group, put forward a motion to approve the development, but it was defeated.

She said: "We know there is a particular shortage of affordable and social housing. This development would have provided about 400 affordable homes, of which about 100 would be social.

"So this would ease the housing crisis here."

Keeble said the housing would have also helped with the new employment coming to the area.

She added: "This scheme would not be delivered for several years. So the impact of the decision to turn down the application now will really hit home in future years.

"It makes no sense to bemoan the housing shortage and then turn down a major opportunity to ease it."

The developer could decide to submit an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, but it must do so within 12 weeks of the decision. The applicant, Manor Oak Homes, declined to comment.

Last year, an application for 700 homes near Brackley was approved on appeal after West Northamptonshire Council rejected it. In this case, it was raised that the council did not have a five-year housing land supply, which meant it had to set a higher bar for refusing applications.

It comes at a time when the Labour government has set a target of building 1.5 million new homes by 2029.

Local authorities have been told to permit developers to build, and planning reforms have been introduced to allow homes to be built on former green belt land.

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