Plans for the first 130 of 2,500 new homes in Gainsborough submitted

Persimmon Homes has applied to the authority’s planning department for reserved matters approval of 130 homes on land north east of Highfields roundabout, off Corringham Road.

They form phase 1A of the Gainsborough Northern Neighbourhood Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) planned within the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.

Phase one in total will see 750 homes built over time.

Documents submitted to the authority said the development, referred to as Thonock Park, included 15 two-bedroom homes, 94 three-bedroom homes and 21 four-bedroom homes across a 3.43 hectare developable area.

Seven of the homes will be classed as “affordable” housing. The plans were given outline approval in September 2020.

The documents said the development would achieve “an integrated residential community with a sensitive relationship to the existing urban environment and its setting”.

The character of the surrounding area is defined by a combination of land uses, including residential along The Belt Road and The Avenue and educational in the form of Gainsborough Academy, to the west and Somerby Park Industrial Estate located to the south east of the site.

The residents of the proposed development will be able to gain access to a wide range of local amenities opportunities.

The site benefits from leisure facilities, most noticeably the Gainsborough Golf Club, located north west of the site beyond The Belt Road.

The applicants said pre-application engagement had received around 25 responses with issues raised relating to green space, housing mix and ecological impacts.

They said this had resulted in extra housing types, greater variety of materials and extra green space and parking.

The Gainsborough Northern Neighbourhood SUE forms part of a plan to deliver 36,960 homes across Central Lincolnshire by 2036.

As well as homes, it will also include seven hectares of employment land, a local centre hub with community facilities and retail space and new schools.