Parish councillors have welcomed an amended plan for a housing development in Salterforth.
Informal discussions have been ongoing since a decision over the application to build 51 homes on the site off Kelbrook Road was deferred last month. Villagers turned out in force at public meetings to voice their disapproval of the scheme, with many saying if it was to go ahead concerns over parking and road safety in the village had be to addressed first.
Coun. Christine Pollard, along with fellow councillor Norman Whitaker, has been working tirelessly to find the best solution for villagers after the plan was recommended for approval by Pendle Council. She said: “We told the developers we needed more than 20 spaces in the public car park on the site. After speaking to the planning department they came back with 30. We are not exactly doing cartwheels but it is the best we could have hoped for.
“It is good that we have had the support of the village. The developers have been nice about it all and of course a lot of people don’t want the houses full stop, as I don’t, but what could we do when Pendle Council said they could build?”
Mark Krassowski, Director of Walsingham Planning, said on behalf of the applicants that a scheme of traffic calming measures had been agreed including a toucan crossing for Kelbrook Road. The developers have also pledged to carry out a 20 m.p.h. scheme in Earby Road, which is already the condition of a separate planning application, should their houses be completed first.
He said: “We have been keen to discuss and seek ways to address the concerns of councillors and residents. We always embraced the idea of the public carpark in the scheme since, even though the villagers had no set rights to it, they had been able to use it historically. We said the maximum parking possible without losing any houses would be 24 spaces but councillors said that was not enough. We agreed to remove the two homes set for affordable housing, leaving 49 houses and a 30-space car park. This will be handed over to the ownership of the parish council.”
The amended plans will come before Pendle Council’s West Craven Committee for a decision on May 8th.