THE creation of a controversial new 57-home village estate has moved a step closer, after the scheme was sold to one of the largest providers of affordable housing and care in England.

The development on a greenfield site at Mannings Farm off Drybrook High Street was opposed by many local residents, with protestors with placards gathering outside council offices and more than 175 objections lodged with planners.

But after the Forest Council’s planning committee rejected the scheme against officers’ advice on the grounds of disturbance of bats, road safety concerns and flooding fears, Bolton-based land development company Drybrook Ltd won outline planning permission on appeal.

The firm also won costs from the council in October 2018 after successfully claiming that the reasons for refusal were “not reasonable grounds”, and the authority had subsequently failed to publish its decision within the statutory time limit.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England and Drybrook Rugby Club, whose clubhouse and pitches border the site, also opposed the plan.

Residents claimed there was already traffic chaos during home games with cars parking on High Street.

And they also expressed concerns about the over-stretching of village infrastructure.

But the planning inspector said that despite “considerable local opposition”, the Mannings Farm site had been “included as a residential allocation in the emerging allocation plan to enable the council to meet its strategic housing land requirement and ensure a five-year year forward supply of sites for new housing”.

And granting the appeal, he added: “I find that the proposal would not cause unacceptable harm to ecological interests or to highway safety and that no conflict with the development plan would arise in relation to these matters.”

Builder ilke Homes has now announced that it has sold the scheme to the Guinness Partnership housing association, and work is about to start.

The builder says it will be providing ‘modular homes’ for the site, which will be constructed at its 250,000 sq ft factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

By manufacturing the homes offsite, it says it will keep disruptions to the local community to a minimum.

The project has been designed by Gloucester architectural practice Roberts Limbrick, and will deliver a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes, all of which will be made available for shared ownership or affordable rent, adds the developer.

It added: “Work on site is expected to start imminently, and to finish in December 2021, just 12 months after start on site.”

Matthew Bench, executive director of partnerships at ilke Homes, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the Guinness Partnership on an ilke Homes’ full turnkey development, leading the development process at every step and using ilke Homes’ modular housing technology to deliver beautiful, sustainable homes for the local community.

Ed Barnes, development director for the South at The Guinness Partnership, said: “We are delighted to be working with Ilke Homes using modern methods of construction to increase and speed up the supply of affordable housing in the Forest of Dean.”