Elivia Homes outline planning application

 

The Parish Council thought the community in Benson should be informed about the
latest outline planning application that has appeared on the SODC web site. The
application comes from Elivia Homes and is for a development of 170 residential houses
on the land that in our Neighbourhood Plan is listed as BEN5.
This is the piece of land you will see if you drive out of the village on the Watlington
Road, on the right, just after you pass the entrance to Blacklands Road. Many houses on
Blacklands Road back onto this field, as do homes on Brook Street. The satellite image
below shows this location with an Elivia Homes illustration of how the houses might be
laid out.(you can zoom in to this map for a closer view of the location)

We are aware that many villagers feel that Benson has taken more that its fair share of
new housing in recent years. However, the Secretary of State for Housing addressed
Parliament in March 2026:
“To provide further support for housebuilding, a new Consultation Direction will be made this
month specifying that where a Local Planning Authority (LPA) intends to refuse planning
permission for a housing scheme of 150 dwellings or more, they must consult the Secretary
Information Classification: General
of State to enable Ministers to decide whether to use their existing powers to call in that
planning application.”
In our case, the Local Planning Authority is SODC. Essentially, this means that if SODC
intends to refuse the Elivia Homes outline application for 170 new houses, they now
must consult with the Housing Ministry, which could decide to step in and grant the
application over their heads.
Currently, the Parish Council are in discussion with SODC to look at the proposal and
identify potential issues that might be critical in decision-making, such as wastewater
and sewage management, the proposed transport access and exit points, lack of local
amenities, and the physical impact on the outer edge of the village. And of course, we
will reference the Benson Neighbourhood Plan, which was used successfully at the
recent public enquiry to defend the proposed 40+ houses on the Rokemarsh edge of
the village.
What can you do? Well, at this stage we’d like to gather the reaction of the village to this
proposal. You can use this link to express your views, either for or against the proposed
development. We will collate all the responses and use these in any future discussions
with authorities. If you also leave your email address, we can add you to our email
newsletter list, so that you can stay informed about how this development proposal is
progressing.
Thank you.
Benson Parish Council