Homes plan for Irchester greenfield site approved

A greenfield site in Irchester will be built on to create 75 new homes.

Despite some local opposition including from a ward councillor the plan for the new development off Farndish Road was approved last night.

The development by Scott Properties will see up to 75 new homes built, with 17 affordable homes and four self build plots. A portion of land will also be given over for a play area which the parish council will manage.

Ward councillors Cllr Tim Maguire and Cllr Jon-Paul Carr disagreed about whether the development was right for the town.

Cllr Maguire said the 40 per cent affordable housing quota should be stuck to rather than allowing the developer to deliver just 23 per cent.

He said: “Irchester has taken a lot of housing over the past 10 years. Enough. We need a better scheme than this.”

But Cllr Carr was in favour of the scheme and pointed out that it had been designated as a development site in the local plan and said there was plenty of space at the local school for new children. He also disputed the claim that Irchester has grown too much in recent years and said there are 300 less people* in the village than there was in the early 1980s.

The committee voted unanimously in favour of the development with council leader Cllr Martin Griffiths pointing out there had been little opposition to the scheme locally compared to some schemes in years gone by.

*an earlier version of this story incorrectly said there were 300 less homes in the village.