A new development of social housing for older people who need care or assistance is being planned in the outskirts of an Essex town.

A planning application for The Yorkes development has been submitted to Harlow Council and was validated on June 16.

If approved, it will consist of six single-storey, wheelchair accessible bungalows for people aged over 55.

According to a design and access statement by McBains Ltd, the proposed site is immediately west of Tye Green Lodge care home, which caters for 60 residents over 65  and provides residential and specialist dementia care.

A section read: “The site is within close distance from a large care home and for this reason it will be developed as residential, aiming at providing homes to people with more advanced age that may present physical difficulties and assistance requirements from carers and/or family members”

A later section read: “Harlow District Council recognises the importance of reducing the carbon footprint of all the development and tackling fuel poverty. The main goal for the Yorkes proposal is to reduce the operational carbon emissions and the energy demand of the buildings.”

The houses will have dedicated parking spaces, half of which will have electric charging points  with the other half having infrastructure capacity intended for future use, the statement says.

All of the houses will have solar panels fitted to the roofs, intended to provide an energy offset.

According to the statement, the existing site is vacant and has no plants or vegetation, and lies just outside the Tye Green Conservation Area.

One resident who lives near the site submitted a comment to the council neither objecting nor supporting the application, but raising questions about the impact of construction.

It read: “The planned work of two one story buildings on the land at the back of my garden is better than a load of flats overlooking our gardens especially when most of us have kids out there!

“My only real concerns are the noise levels this will generate out there at all hours of the day & night plus weekends? How long will that continue for?Secondly, are these new properties being built still going to make my garden overlooked by complete strangers?”

According to the statement, there are no concerns regarding overbuilding or overshadowing, because the proposed scheme consists of one-storey buildings facing the gardens of Tye Green Village.

According to its website, Harlow Council is planning to build hundreds of new council houses over the coming years, with the first phase of its programme consisting of 99 homes completed between 2022 and 2024. 

The council will likely decide on whether to approve the application later this year.