A NEW housing estate is to be built in a quiet village after heavily opposed plans were approved.

A total of 50 homes will be built on land off P23661748 in Abberton after the saga surrounding the scheme rumbled on for 17 months.

Mersea Homes stated it will construct a new pick-up and drop-off point to serve Langenhoe Primary School to mitigate any safety concerns about the increased traffic flow.

The school lies just metres from the now approved development and it will benefit from new footpaths connecting the premises to the village.

Gazette: Divisive - the plans attracted scores of objectionsDivisive - the plans attracted scores of objections (Image: Mersea Homes)

Abberton and Langenhoe Parish Council has previously stressed the prospect of parents and small children crossing the busy Peldon Road during peak times was “completely unacceptable”.

They said the blueprints for the proposed pick-up and drop-off zones “do not address appropriately the parking issues relating to the school”.

The authority’s councillors accepted “some form of development will take place” on the land but argued the village could not handle more than 35 properties there.

Another objector wrote: “Currently we are able to enjoy a clear view of the night sky and this development would be detrimental to our current amenity.

“I feel it would adversely effect our local bat population.

“With limited street lighting, pavements, school places and local amenity, this would put a huge strain on the village as a whole.”

Mersea Homes said 15 of the properties will be affordable and a separate pedestrian and cycle access from Peldon Road will be installed at the site.

A planning statement reads: “The provision of up to 50 dwellings would support the council’s emerging spatial strategy that has been devised as a sustainable approach to meeting the borough’s housing needs for the period to 2033.

“The development would deliver onsite public open space which would meet its own needs, but will provide an important local resource.

“The site would not have a detrimental impact in respect to flood risk and drainage, transport and access, heritage, ecology, landscape, or contamination.”