A DEVELOPER wants to build up to 27 new dwellings on land on the outskirts of a small town in Yorkshire. 

Edwardson Associates has submitted a planning application to Craven District Council to build a new development next to the primary school in High Bentham.

Access to the site would be provided off Low Bentham Road.

The site comprises 0.82 hectares of agricultural land located to the south of Low Bentham Road and on the western edge of High Bentham. 

The Westmorland Gazette: The application. The 0.82-hectare area is the new housing development, and the 0.3-hectare area is land that will be saved to allow the school to extend. The application. The 0.82-hectare area is the new housing development, and the 0.3-hectare area is land that will be saved to allow the school to extend. (Image: Craven District Council)

The 27 homes would have two off-street car parking spaces per dwelling, plus seven visitor car parking spaces. 

The development would have a mix of house types, including detached and semi-detached properties, bungalows and one, two, three and four-bed homes. 

The planning application conflicts with a previous planning document which stated that development in Bentham must allow for the primary school space to expand 0.3 hectares of land to the east. 

However, the owner of the land said that they would instead propose the provision for the school to expand 0.3 hectares to the south into space the client also owns. 

The outline planning application said that eight dwellings on-site and a payment for the equivalent of 0.1 dwellings would fulfil the 30 per cent affordable homes requirement. 

The land is currently used as a space for sheep to graze on. It is greenbelt land but a new development would fill in the gap between a new housing estate and the school, said the developers.

To the north, across the street, there is a builder's yard.

The application states: "The site is allocated for housing so there is a clear expectation that it will be developed with housing and associated roads and parking. Set within the prevailing landscape context there is no in principle objection to the proposal on landscape and visual amenity grounds." 

The neighbour consultation period opened on January 19. The standard consultation expiry rate for the application is February 9 and the determination deadline is April 6.