The Church Commissioners for England have submitted plans for more than 300 new homes in Buckden.

The commissioners, which manages the Church of England’s land holdings, has applied to Huntingdonshire District Council for permission to build 340 homes off Silver Street.

In documents submitted to the district council, the planning agents, WYG, acting on behalf of the commissioners, said: “The defining qualities of the development will be a rich landscape setting, with distinctive green infrastructure features. This will be a welcoming and comfortable place to live.

“The development will benefit from excellent connectivity. This will include proximity to public facilities such as local shops, community centre, access to local bus networks and connections to existing pedestrian and cycle routes.”

The 36-acre site is currently farmland that is bordered to the south by Buckden Gravel Pits and to the north by the A1, with a range of properties planned as well as two play areas.

A public consultation event was hosted in the village in July last year by WYG and the Church Commissioners, which, they said, was “well attended”, and the feedback was used to form part of a ‘masterplan’ for the site, which was presented to Buckden Parish Council in September.

The applicant said it had received 101 responses from members of the public about the plan, with some happy with the new housing and support for local business the development would bring, while others raised concerns about the impact on the road network and the ability of the village to cope with a series of new housing developments in the pipeline.

In response to concern over the impact on roads in the village, the applicant said: “The application is supported by a transport assessment and travel plan prepared by Pell Frischmann, which concludes that the proposals will result in no adverse residual impact to the operation of the surrounding highway network either during the day or

in peak periods. Assessments have been made both on the existing situation and also taking into account a future scenario which includes committed schemes.”

To view the plans, or to have a say, log on to www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk.