Woodhall Spa councillors meet ELDC about housing fears

Parish councillors in Woodhall Spa plan to issue a statement in a bid to ease mounting concerns about over-development of the village.
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A deputation of parish councillors met leading figures from East Lindsey District Council’s planning department last week and raised a number of issues.

The parish council described the meeting - with ELDC’s Portfolio Holder for Planning Coun Richard Fry and Planning Team Leader Anne Shorland - as ‘very successful’.

However, parish clerk Amanda Bushell said councillors wanted to discuss feedback at its planning committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday) before making a public statement.

Residents have claimed Woodhall is effectively ‘under siege’ from developers with hundreds of new homes in the pipeline.

Parish councillors are already fighting plans for 300 homes off Witham Road.

In last week’s News, Woodhall’s two district councillors - Craig Leyland and Susanna Gorst - revealed proposals for another scheme, this time involving potentially ‘hundreds’ of new homes to the south of the village towards Kirkstead.

Parish councillors have already warned the volume of homes could ‘kill the golden goose’ by damaging local services and even driving down existing house prices which are among the highest in East Lindsey.

Woodhall has been allocated around 340 new homes in ELDC’s long-awaited Local Plan - a blueprint for future development across the district. However, parish council chairman David Clarke has described that figure as ‘meaningless’, stressing it was not a ‘minimum.’

Speaking ahead of the meeting with ELDC, Coun Clarke said potentially, hundreds of homes could be built in Woodhall. He confirmed the parish council was keen to get assurances from ELDC about their ‘vision’ for the future of the village.

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