PLANS for a £10m development of 39 homes and six commercial units in the south county village of Lawrenny were given the go-ahead by national park planners despite fears it would double the size of the village.

At the May 1 meeting of the park’s development management committee, members supported a recommendation the application by Mr Lort-Phillips of Lawrenny Developments Ltd for 32 open-market homes, seven affordable homes, six commercial units, and a biomass heater system at Home Farm, Broad Lane be delegated to senior officers for approval.

Several letters of objection were received, with concerns including the scale of the application being out of character with the area, a lack of community facilities, and claims the development is for the second homes market.

At the May 1 meeting, Stephen Oates, of neighbouring Mixen House told the committee the application would be “…an increase of 40 per cent over the LDP [Local Development Plan] allocation and a doubling in the size of Lawrenny.”

He also raised concerns about access to a proposed ‘community square,’ an increase in traffic, and visual intrusion on existing properties.

Members agreed to delegate permission, subject to a string of conditions, including an access element.

Speaking after the meeting, Adrian Lort-Phillips, director of the company behind the development, said: “Lawrenny is already a busy community, but we want to bolster its status as a rural centre in which families live, work and play. Its expansion, and the inclusion of offices and workshops, will help it to remain a living village and to support amenities so often lacking in communities in deeply rural areas.

“Just when small villages, particularly ones in National Parks such as this, were hollowing out and losing the amenity they need to be sustainable, this one fought back.

“We hope our growing community can demonstrate to others that a rural way of life, supported by busy, working rural centres such as Lawrenny, is part of the future of the countryside, not of the past.”

Lawrenny Estate ‘Phase One’ will start in 2019. It will include 17 new homes, of which seven will be affordable, and the construction of seven workspaces.