New homes in Thakeham given thumbs up

Work on the three-bedroom houses on land south of Massey Close will be allowed once a Section 106 agreement has been sorted out between the council and the developer.

With the council entitled to refuse the application if the agreement is not completed within three months, the applicant asked if an extension to six months would be possible.

He was advised that the time limit was there to protect the council, which had seen some agreements take years to complete, but as long as progress was being made within three months, there should be no problems.

Members of Thakeham Parish Council were pleased to see that all the homes would be affordable, and asked for some of the S106 contributions to be put towards improvements at the High Bar Lane playground.

The council received a number of objections to the application, with concerns including the effect on wildlife, overdevelopment and fears about the potential loss of trees.

Officers assured members that no trees would be felled to make way for the houses.

Philip Circus (Con, West Chiltington, Thakeham & Ashington) said: “We always find there are people who will oppose a development but looking at the arguments here – particularly arguments put forward by the parish council – it’s very difficult to take any other view than it’s in the community interest that this application should be allowed.”