An application to extend a housing estate in Crosby has been rejected by the island’s planning committee.

The proposal by JM Project Management to build 18 more houses on a field behind the Co-op in the Crosby Meadows estate (22/00475/B) was rejected by four votes to two.

It was thrown out over concerns about over-development and the impact this would have on neighbours.

Committee members also expressed concerns about the proposed first-time buyers’ homes not meeting relevant standards, and that a sewage pipeline fell outside the Area Plan boundary.

Marown Parish Commissioners had objected to the application, arguing it would jeopardise the character of Crosby and would set a precedent for further development on the field, which was valuable agricultural land.

Planning officer Paul Visigah had recommended approval for the latest phase of the scheme, despite a short-fall in affordable housing.

The developer had agreed to pay a commuted sum of £20,000 in lieu of the required amount of affordable homes.

JM Project Management’s application included a terrace of dwellings, three and four bedroom private detached housing and three-bedroom dormer bungalows.

Five two-bedroomed mid-terrace homes would serve as housing for first-time buyers. This still left a shortfall of 0.5 units of affordable housing.

The planning officer said previous concerns about the site boundary had been addressed by moving the proposed terrace of housing closer to existing homes so that they sat within the defined settlement boundary as set out in the Area Plan.

Committee members raised concerns that because of the close proximity of some of the dwellings, residents would lose permitted development rights to erect sheds in their gardens.

Chairman Rob Callister said he worried about over-development and the removal of permitted development rights.

Committee member Peter Whiteway said the first-time buyers’ homes were ‘squeezed in’.