Taylor Wimpey’s wish to develop land north of Hightown Road on Lynes Farm in Ringwood was given the green light by New Forest District Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, June 11, after reconsidering the application.
The application, previously approved in March 2023, required a Section 106 legal agreement by March 2024, which was not completed. The applicant has since revised the project’s feasibility and deliverability, proposing less affordable housing.
The homes, along with three hectares of employment land and recreational green space, will be constructed at the site following the approval.
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Chair of Ringwood Town Council’s Planning, Town and Environment Committee, Councillor Philip Day said: “We accept the decision made some years ago to grant outline planning consent for this site for some 400 (much needed) houses.
“However, we are extremely disappointed that the Planning Committee agreed to a proposal to reduce both the number of smaller and affordable houses from what was originally agreed, making it all the more difficult for local people (and in particular young people) to find their way onto the housing ladder.
“We are also very concerned that the proposals do not address the serious flooding issues in the area and that the main entrance to the site from the A31 might not be built until at least 200 of the houses have been built, which will undoubtedly cause major traffic issues.
“The other matter of concern is that even now, we understand that the developers have not secured land ownership and we have no idea when ‘spades may be put in the ground’.”
400 new homes to be built on this land in Ringwood (Image: Google Maps) Councillor for Ringwood South, Cllr Jeremy Heron, added: “I really do consider that to be a serious risk to life because they have no way of understanding the level of traffic that’s going to come down that road, and the green crossing points just terrify me, to be quite honest.”
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There have also been numerous objections from residents, including Ringwood Junior School, which states that the school is full and there is no capacity to accommodate additional pupils.
Jane Piper, the planning consultant with Taylor Wimpey, said: “Since the resolution to grant permission, Taylor Wimpy re-evaluated the viability of the proposal due to increasing material costs, market changes, and high abnormal infrastructure costs associated with the proposal.
“Taylor Wimpy is committed to the creation of a high-quality, sustainable new neighbourhood that is for Ringwood.
“The site will provide 112 new affordable homes to meet those needs on the waiting list. Over 43 per cent of the outline application is green space, and this will increase with gardens and incidental green space.
“Taylor Wimpy has worked hard with highways and others to create a package of sustainable and active travel solutions, including footpaths and cycleways on and off site and funding to improve local bus services as well as providing the new spine road and roundabout which will ease traffic on Eastfield Lane and in the wider area and improve air quality.”
Addressing the flooding concernes, she said: “The flooding takes into account climate change of 40 per cent for extreme flood events that have not actually been witnessed thus far, so those incidents that have happened recently have been taken into account in the modelling.