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‘It’s like living next to a PRISON’, blast villagers after ‘eyesore’ newbuild estate popped up next door
Pictures show the 'eyesore' villagers dubbed 'HMP Quadring'
ANGRY villagers have blasted an “eyesore” housing development after it sprung up on their doorstep.
Locals claim the block of 59 luxury detached houses on the Meadows estate in Quadring, Lincolnshire, look like a prison, or a concentration camp.
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The one to five-bedroom homes are listed for sale for an average of £300,000.
And a large sign on the main road outside proudly boasts of “elegant homes amidst picturesque rural surroundings”.
But in Quadring – where a quarter of the 977-strong population are aged over 65 – most residents seem to hate the site.
“I don’t wish to appear snobby,” said one elderly man gazing out at the new houses from the beautifully-manicured lawn of his detached house.
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“But it is a bloody eyesore. You can’t blame the farmer who sold the land – he had no control over what they did to it. The fault lies with the developer and the councillors who approved their awful plans.”
Local Facebook pages are full of angry comments about the development being constructed by Salboys Build Partner and Stinder Homes.
Mick Noddy Sturman commented: “HMP Quadring – it might as well be.
“Absolute eyesore. Whoever passed these plans needs to go to Specsavers ASAP as they have serious eyesight problems.”
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Jane Faulkner posted: “Looks depressing, blot on the landscape.”
Paul Whyte fumed “it looks like concentration camp” and Aileen Walker added: “Little boxes made of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same.”
Susan Goodley said: “Looks like a prison. I certainly wouldn’t live there. The buildings look so depressing.”
Floyd Alison added: “I work in a prison and I said as soon as the houses went up that they look like prison blocks. An awful eyesore for such a lovely location.”
Sharon Gilbert posted: “The exact reason we sold up and moved away when we saw this coming. Beautiful place ruined.”
Most locals in the village – just eight miles from the small Fenlands market town of Spalding – were reluctant to give their name.
“We have to live here,” said one. “But most of us are angry about this development.
"It’s not only the ugly buildings, but the extra traffic it will bring and the pressure it will place on the infrastructure.”
One man living in Water Gate, whose back garden looks out on to the estate, has spent £6,000 planting trees in a bid to block out the view.
“You couldn’t have designed a more horrible building,” he said. “People are extremely disappointed that it is such a horrible mess."
Retired RAF Squadron Leader Lester White, who has lived opposite the development site for 25 years, said: “You can say I’m grumpy, but the buildings are very ugly. They’re changing the whole character of our lovely village with all these new houses.
How to complain about planning permission
Your first port of call is to write to your local council as soon as possible saying why you think the application should not be approved, according to the .
In most cases there will be more than one stage to this complaints process and this will normally have to be completed before the Ombudsman can step in.
You can also contact the Ombudsman if you think the council is taking too long to deal with the issue – 12 weeks is seen as a reasonable time to look into the matter.
If you are unhappy with the council’s decision you can then complain to the Ombudsman.
This is required, even if the development is being built.
However, the website states: “It is unlikely that any planning permission already granted will be changed by an investigation by either the council or us, but steps may be taken to reduce the effects of the development on you if fault is found.”
Anyone thinking about contacting the Ombudsman needs to get in touch within 12 months of when you first knew about the problem as otherwise they may not be able to help.
The areas that the Ombudsman may look at concerning the council are:
- did not notify you of an application although the law or its neighbour notification policy says it should
- did not take your objections into account (this is not the same as not agreeing with your objections)
- considered the application under the wrong procedure (such as delegating the decision to an officer when it should have been referred to a committee of councillors)
- did not take into account, or failed to give proper reasons for not following, the relevant law, policy or guidance
- did not give reasons for its decision to approve an application, or
- made a decision based on inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant planning considerations.
“If they do sell them, then it’s going to bring a lot more traffic into the village. We already have our own HST problem along the main road here – High-Speed Tractors, that is!”
Neighbour Sheila Williams, 84, said: “When I moved here, I looked out over lovely green fields. I could watch beautiful sunsets over banks of golden flowers in summer.
“Now instead of sunsets, I look out my window at an ugly row of housing. It’s heartbreaking.”
Local parish councillor Andrew Jackson admitted: “The development could have been looked better, in my opinion.
“But few people commented or complained when the plans were published.
"If folk had read through them, they would have known what the houses would look like.
“That was the time to complain. It’s a bit late now they have already been built.
“As for the parish council, there was little we could do so long as the development ticked all the right boxes.”
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The Sun Online has contacted South Holland District Council for comment.
Stinders Homes and Salboy Build Partner have also been approached for comment.
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