THE layout and design of 90 houses to be built on part of the former golf course at Blunsdon House Hotel have been approved.

Developers Backhouse Blunsdon Ltd were granted permission to build the houses after an appeal to the government-appointed planning inspector in late 2018.

The permission to build 90 houses on the land just north of the recently built Fortuna Road development and to the east of the Blunsdon Hill Strict Baptist Church near the junction was outline only.

This meant Backhouse had to get approval of the details.

The company’s successful application shows the houses will be laid out in three blocks on the rectangular site, with trees or open space or both screening other houses and the Blunsdon Hill road, and not far away the A419.

Houses on the far east of the site will have views across the rest of what was the hotel’s golf course and there well be a large open area in the middle of the site.

Backhouse said: “The majority of dwellings are arranged to form perimeter blocks and to front public spaces, with clear definition between public and private areas.

"Where this isn’t possible, units have been designed with carefully positioned doors and windows to provide overlooking and natural surveillance of public spaces.

“Public open spaces have been designed with a large number of properties fronting them to provide good natural surveillance.

"The entrance space and central open space have been designed so that they are integral to the development, enhance wayfinding and will become active and sociable spaces.”

Of the houses themselves Backhouse said: “The proposed buildings are designed to have traditional housing forms with subtle contemporary refinements and details afforded by modern technologies and material choices.

“The house types and resulting street scenes have been designed to create a development with a single character."

The application emphasises the energy efficiency of the houses.

It said: “Where possible streets have an east-west orientation to enable houses and gardens to take advantage of passive solar gain.

"Where this has not been possible, houses are orientated to give their roofs a southerly aspect.

“Houses have been designed so that the main habitable rooms are either at the front or rear of the property. Least used rooms such as utilities, WCs and bathrooms have been located to the centre of the dwellings. This helps to maximise the potential for natural daylighting.”

Houses will be built with brick, in a variety of muted shades and make use of timber cladding.

The majority of them will be detached with some semi-detached and five short strips of terracing.