Planners at Rutland Council are recommending councillors approve plans for up to 62 homes on the edge of Oakham despite much opposition.

The outline application from Mr and Mrs Gareth and Amy Ball, plus Rosconn Strategic Land concerning land off Braunston Road comes before a meeting of the county council's planning committee this week.

As Nub News previously reported, the site presently a 3.38ha agricultural field, but if approved, it would contain 43 market and 19 affordable homes.

The application to Rutland County Council says the site is in a sustainable location close to facilities, including a bus service and is 1km from Oakham town centre.

Tomorrow night's meeting of planning and licensing committee will determine the application as it is considered a "major development."

A report by council planning staff says the site is outside the Planned Limits to Development but is allocated for development in the forthcoming Local Plan.

It said: "There have been many objections to the planning application but there are other material considerations in this instance that would justify outweighing the current adopted development plan. All technical issues have been resolved or are resolvable. Outline planning permission can therefore be granted."

However, the scheme has received more than 100 objections, with Oakham town councillor Adam Lowe (Oakham North West Ward) saying he has been approached by residents who border this proposed development.

Coun Lowe said: "RCC have already assisted residents with sandbagging directly adjacent to the fields that head up hill. The risk of excess surface water has not been fully appreciated, it is also based on historic. We have a national or indeed global warming situation and extreme weather. Based on this the development is not well placed. Equally I feel that this a development that is reducing the green belt and would be out of place given the current fence lines. The homes would also be in an overlooking position of the bungalows lower down this slope."

Braunston Parish Council also said it "objects strongly to the proposal."

"The proposed development is on a greenfield site, currently used for agricultural

purposes. The Local Plan specifies the use of previously developed, or

brownfield land, for development wherever possible. Therefore, the proposal

does not seek to meet the requirements outlined in [council policies]. "

The report also noted 162 objections from local residents, including from further afield in Oakham and beyond.

Their objections included the site is frequently waterlogged, nearby properties have been flooded, the Illustrative layout is not acceptable, the use of a greenfield site, traffic concerns, provision of facilities and Oakham not needing more housing.

But there was one letter of support saying more housing is needed and those that grew up in Oakham want to live here which is not possible without new housing.

In their assessment, council planning staff said refusing permission would put the council's five year supply of housing in jeopardy and make the council vulnerable to proposals on other unplanned greenfield sites all over the County, especially around the larger settlements. These would be hard to resist under central government planning policies and council lead to unnecessary costs should the council refuse such applications.

Their report added: "The site is not subject to any local or national designation in terms of landscape quality. There is no 'Greenbelt' in Rutland as cited by some objectors.

"The application is supported by a Landscape Visual Impact Assessment. This concludes that in terms of potential visual effects, these will be localised as a result of the developed nature of the site's setting."

"The Master Plan indicates that the proposed number of new dwellings could/would be located a significant distance from existing dwellings on Noel Avenue and Braunston Road. There are open spaces, attenuation areas and a play area between dwellings and the existing across the entire north eastern edge of the site. "

Their report concluded: "The site is outside the current planned limits to development so is contrary to the current adopted development plan. However, the legislation allows you to approve development where other material consideration indicate otherwise.

"In this case the Council's critical 5 year housing land supply and the allocation of the site for development in a submitted Local Plan mean that in this instance planning permission can be granted. Indeed it is important that it is approved.

"There are no other outstanding reasons why permission should be withheld and it is recommended that the scheme be approved."