Havant council set to approve plans for 70 new homes near crematorium

A reserved matters application will determine the layout, scale and appearance of proposals for 70 new homes to be built on land to the west of Havant Crematorium in Bartons Road.

The principle of development and means of access has already been approved by Havant borough councillors back in October 2020.

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The development comprises a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes, which would be divided into two-storey houses and maisonettes, 30 per cent of which will be affordable.

Planning documents state: ‘The development will provide an attractive living environment for a wide range of households, with spacious private and public amenity spaces (including some homes facing onto the central greenspace, with a large feature tree retained, creating the sense of a ‘village green’); attractive buildings and surfaces; good quality homes and the amenity provided by the existing and proposed trees and landscape.

‘The design responds to the character and scale of the surrounding area and provides an appropriate transition between the existing built-up area of Havant and the countryside.’

The development has attracted criticism from environmental groups such as Havant Climate Alliance and Havant Friends of the Earth.

In their combined public comment they said: ‘We are pleased that the homes will be built to high-level BREEAM standards of thermal insulation for energy efficiency and that sustainable materials will be used. However, a great deal more could be done to reduce the carbon emissions from this development.

‘Heating is not mentioned and one would hope that the developers will install heat pumps rather than gas boilers. It is much cheaper to install ground source heat pumps (which are more effective than air source) during building, rather than have to retrofit them later.

‘Solar PV panels should be included on roofs as we live in one of the sunniest areas of the UK. Not all roof designs lend themselves to this and should be changed to allow the installation of a reasonable number of solar PV panels on each building.’

Council officers have recommended granting the reserved matters on December 15.