Revised plans for homes at former speedway stadium
DEVELOPERS hope that a revised scheme to build 209 houses on an old factory site will finally win the thumbs-up from city planners.
Last month members of Plymouth City Council's planning committee turned down the original proposal from Exeter-based housebuilder Taylor Wimpey to develop the site in Pennycross Close.
They were told that the development could create traffic and crime headaches, and would be car-dominated.
The city's planning department also said that a proposed provision for 25 per cent of affordable housing was too low.
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Colin Danks, a director of urban planners Origin3, who designed the proposed development, called for a decision to be deferred last month so councillors could be shown a revised scheme.
But the committee voted to reject the proposal after they heard that the Government was threatening to penalise councils which took too long to make planning decisions.
Within days of the decision, Taylor Wimpey submitted a revised scheme which it hopes will answer the planner's objections.
The development is for the site of the old HellermanTyton factory and the former Merchant Navy industrial unit in Pennycross Close.
The site has a chequered history. It was a greyhound track between 1928 and 1931, and then a speedway track until 1970.
In 1972 consent was given to develop it for industrial and warehousing purposes.
It has been vacant since HellermanTyton moved to Plymouth International Medical and Technology Park in August last year.
The highways authority said the traffic lights at the Honicknowle Lane/Ham Drive junction would need to be improved because of an increase in peak-hour traffic.
The development would also have an impact on Outland Road, which the council has no plans to improve, so planners say the developer should look to reduce the number of car trips it generates.
Improvements would also be needed to the junction of Ham Lane and Langstone Road.
Devon and Cornwall Police said the scheme borders a "challenging area" for policing, and security should be paramount.
Crime and anti-social behaviour are high in an area of a one-mile radius from the site.
But most of the proposed houses do not have gable end windows, so there will be no overlooking of vulnerable areas like roads and public open spaces.
Now the designers have abandoned plans for shops on the site in a bid to reduce the impact on traffic in the area.
Instead the amount of office space will be increased from 1,300 square metres to 2,300.
But they have reduced the number of affordable homes by 10 and increased the market housing by the same number.
They say the development would create 133 jobs.
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