EIGHT bungalows have been proposed in toned-down scheme for a local village.

The bid follows the granting in 2021 of outline planning permission for up to 15 houses on farmland at Lightfields, Kings Caple, one of two such sites proposed for new housing in the village’s neighbourhood development plan.

But following this, a ‘reserved matters’ application to permit the details of the scheme, consisting of the full 15 two-storey houses, was refused ten months later for a number of reasons including their scale, layout, drainage and lack of surrounding planting.

Now a new bid by a different applicant attempts to overcome these objections.

It follows a village meeting to present the new plans in March, drawing around 60 locals who strongly favoured the lower-density development.

Of contemporary design rather than a pastiche of existing housing nearby, the bungalows would each have three bedrooms, the type most in demand locally, and would incorporate several sustainability features, according to a statement with the application.

The ‘modest’ properties would be viable as family homes, and present an opportunity for down-sizers or those with mobility issues, it adds.

With fewer than ten houses in the scheme, there would now be no obligation to include an element of affordable housing as previously. A detailed drainage scheme now accompanies the application.

Comments on the application (number 242441) can be made until November 21.