Softer look agreed for 'Marmite' Scandi-style homes

3 hours ago

Laura DevlinNorfolk

News image — Councillors were reminded that people were living in the homes they called "hideous"

Google A row of modern detached homes featuring dark grey roofs, dark window frames, wood pannelling and grey and cream cladding. Each has a plain rectangle of grass at the front. The sky is cloudy. — Councillors were reminded that people were living in the homes they called "hideous"

Future homes on a village development will have "softer" designs because its "Marmite" Scandinavian-style properties have been costly to build and difficult to sell, councillors were told.

The estate at Great Ellingham, near Attleborough, Norfolk, will eventually feature more than 154 homes, the majority of which have wood panelling and grey cladding.

Breckland Council's planning committee approved a plan for nine bungalows and heard the developer also wanted to vary house types to make it more "viable".

Independent and Green councillor Roger Atterwill described the existing homes off Hingham Road as "hideous", adding: "I wouldn't house cows in them, let alone humans, the state of those."

The committee heard from planning officer Rebecca Collins that the site's largest properties of four and five bedroom had not been "positive" for the developer All Saints, which was keen to make changes.

Peter Wilkinson, a Conservative, said he wanted assurance that new homes would have a different look, as the grey cladding was "horrendous".

Collins explained they would incorporate some of the existing materials so the site was "tied together", but they would have a "softer, more traditional" look.

When questioned how the existing designs were allowed, she confirmed they had been approved by committee members.

"I quite like them - people live in those houses," said Collins.

"They're really different; they've been quite difficult to build in places, they've been quite costly and had a direct impact on house prices.

"There have been some lessons to learn - but I agree they are a bit like Marmite."

Conservative councillor Sarah Suggitt said villagers were keen to have some certainty, particularly as land on which the bungalows would be built had originally been earmarked for a village hall.

To compensate for this change, All Saints has raised its cash contribution from £200,000 to £568,000 to help pay for the hall to be built elsewhere in the village.

As part of the redesign, the developer is also scrapping plans for 14 age-restricted retirement homes which planning officers had labelled as "discriminatory".

It will build a selection of bungalows and three and four-storey homes in its place.

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