Plans to build a development of 1,000 new homes on the edge of Huntingdon have been approved.

Huntingdonshire District Council greenlit the plans after councillors said they were happy with the contributions agreed from the developer, including £100,000 towards creating safe walking routes from the development to schools in Huntingdon.

The outline application for the development proposed to build the new homes on land off Ermine Street.

A new primary school is proposed to be built as part of the development, which will have space for up to 420 children, as well as 56 Early Years placements.

A ‘local centre’ is planned to be created near the new school, which planning documents said will include shops and a community centre.

Parks and some sports pitches are also planned for within the development and potentially new allotments as well.

As an outline application more detailed plans will need to be submitted to the district council and approved before the new homes can be built.

The proposals are part of a wider development allocation made in the district council’s local plan for 1,440 homes.

Concerns had been raised by Huntingdon Town Council and The Stukeleys Parish Council about the volume of traffic that could be created by the new development.

At a meeting of the district council’s development management committee this week (November 20), David Joseph, a representative of the developer Bloor Homes and Narrowmine Properties, said work had been done to address these concerns.

He said: “We are aware of the concerns the parish council has regarding the highway network, the scheme has been subject to careful consideration by the highway authority.

“The county council is satisfied that the impacts are acceptable alongside certain improvements, these include to the Ermine Street roundabout. We intend to carry out Ermine Street-related works prior to occupation of the houses.”

Mr Joseph said the design code included in the application will ensure the new homes will be “good quality”, which he said would also be built to the ‘future homes’ standard.

Councillor Tom Sanderson said he was “really glad” to see contributions from the developer towards special educational needs provision.

He said he thought the proposed mitigations were good and said: “I think this will be a good site and it will fit in well with the local community as well. I am happy to support it.”

Councillor Steve McAdam said he was also happy with the plans.

He said: “I am pleased to see it does seem to be quite a good balance between living space accommodation and the amount of green space available.

“When you look at all the different aspects of what they need to adhere to, it looks like every stone has been turned, so I do not see any objection to this going ahead.”