A developer’s bid to build 80 homes in Sawtry has been dealt a blow after a planning application was refused by councillors.

Huntingdonshire District Council’s development management panel said Linden Homes’ plans for dozens of new houses east of Glebe Farm, in Gidding Road, was an over-development of the site and could have a negative impact on neighbouring properties.

Outline planning permission to develop the site was granted by the district council in April but, as a condition of the permission, the developer was required to return to the council with specific plans for the number of houses and layout.

Agents acting for Linden Homes presented detailed plans for the nine-acre site to councillors last Monday.

The application was recommended for approval by district council planning officer Andrew Cundy.

But councillors disagreed and decided to refuse the application, saying: “The development, by reason of the layout will result in the over-development of the site, which in turn will have a negative impact on neighbouring properties to the east by way of being overbearing and result in an un-neighbourly sense of enclosure.”

Linden Homes has six months in which to appeal to decision to refuse the plans, or it could return with updated plans in the weeks ahead.