Dozens of residents oppose Asfordby Road housing plans

A map showing where the new houses would be built on residential garden off Asfordby Road, Melton

Dozens of residents have lodged objections to plans for four new homes to be built on gardens to the rear of existing properties on Asfordby Road in Melton Mowbray.

Proposals have been submitted to Melton Borough Council for the development, which has angered people who live near to the site.

The plans provide for a row of two and three-bed homes to be constructed in the gardens of numbers 249 to 253 Asfordby Road with a private access from Chetwynd Drive.

More than 40 residents attended a meeting to discuss the proposals and 38 objections have been sent in to the borough council ahead of the scheme being considered by the planning committee.

A graphic showing where the new houses would be built off Asfordby Road and what the view would be like from neighbouring properties

The objectors say the four houses are being built in a small space and would be overcrowded, claustrophobic and oppressive.

They say there would be a loss of privacy to residents of Chetwynd Drive, Asfordby Road and Riverside Road.

That trees and hedge rows, which are home to birds and bats, would be lost and that existing views would be ruined.

Those who oppose the plans also say it would be contrary to local planning policies which limit development in residential gardens.

A report sent to the council by Vale Planning Consultants, in support of the application, states: “Visually and physically, the site is well enclosed and represents a small scale and logical infill to the built form of Melton Mowbray; it is closely related to existing built development and offers the opportunity to deliver a sympathetically designed scheme, which sits comfortably within its setting and which provides much needed new housing in a sustainable location.”