60 homes to be built in Doncaster village after plan is approved despite less than half of committee members voting in favour

The homes - which will be a mix of 40 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom properties on land off Watch House Lane in Bentley - will be constructed as part of a Build to Rent (BtR) scheme.

BtR units are purpose built housing that is typically 100 per cent rented. Schemes of this nature usually offer longer tenancy agreements of three years or more and will typically be professionally managed stock in single ownership and management control.

Of the 10 councillors on the committee, five abstained, four approved the plan and one voted against.

Coun Steve Cox, who abstained, said: “For me, there is not enough mitigation on the issues of the runoff of water.

“We know there is a need for more housing especially as the population grows. We need it but the problem I have is the flooding issues and we don’t know where the water is going to go which could have a catastrophic event for either Bentley or Scawthorpe.”

The application received 30 objections from residents close to the site but developer Quod said a consultation exercise in September 2019 found 62 per cent of respondents were in favour of the development.

Bentley councillors Jane Nightingale and Bill Mordue also posted objections.

Coun Nightingale raised the issue of surface water issues and heavy traffic while Coun Mordue had concerns that the development was too large in scale.

Some of the reasons for objection from residents included that Fairfield Road and Halifax Crescent act as a thoroughfare during peak traffic time, regularly used as a shortcut between Watch House Lane and York Road.

Others noted disruption during construction, recorded traffic accidents close by and ‘insufficient parking’ within the scheme.

One resident asked if any action would be taken against reported methane odour from the development site.

The developer will have to provide various sums of money under a Section 106 agreement.

These include £157,859 towards Scawthorpe Sunnyfields Primary School and £164,673 towards Don Valley Academy, totalling £322,532.

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