PLANS have been submitted to knock down farm buildings in Saddleworth and build five houses on the site.

A planning application has been lodged to demolish agricultural properties on Hey House Farm on Ripponden Road in Denshaw and build four-bedroom homes.

Occupants of the farm are the applicants.

A planning document with the proposals state: “The new dwellings will provide comfortable accommodation within an attractive setting for the future occupants.

“The new dwellings will sit at a lower level than the existing residential development to the east and there will be no issues of intervisibility of overlooking.

“As a result, the occupants of the new dwellings will be afforded excellent levels of amenity and privacy and that of the occupants of the existing nearby dwellings will be maintained.”

The buildings that are proposed to be knocked down have not been used “for some time, only for storage purposes”.

The plans added: “There is a need for smaller, lower priced dwellings within Saddleworth to cater for local demand.

“Most recent small developments have been developed for larger higher value properties which are not accessible to those working within a lower price range but will needing family accommodation.”

A previous application was refused in 2019 as there were “two much larger” homes that extended further north into the site and there was concern the development would “detract from the visual amenity of the green belt by way of urban encroachment”.

But this matter has been addressed, the applicant states, and “as such, the current scheme will have a much lesser impact on the visual amenity and openness”.

A “determination deadline” for the application has been set for April 20.