February 2026 DRAFT Minutes (Extraordinary Meeting)
Market Deeping Town Council – Planning and Highways Committee
Minutes of a meeting of an Extra Ordinary meeting of Market Deeping Town Council’s Planning and Highways Committee held on Tuesday 17 February 2026 at 7.00pm. Cllr Dr Byrd presided over Cllr Wey, Cllr Gamble, Cllr Mrs Sked, Cllr Hanson, Cllr Ms Reed, Cllr Ms Banks, Cllr Neilson, Cllr Guerge and Cllr Mrs Steel. The Clerk was in attendance.
107. Chairman’s Welcome
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting at 7.05pm.
108. Apologies for Absences
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Broughton and Cllr Hughes prior to the meeting.
109. To receive declarations of interest under the Localism Act 2011.
There were no declarations of interest.
110. For members to consider and agree the response to SKDC’s consultation for Planning Applications S26/0216 and S26/0217 located on land West and East of Lincoln Road, Market Deeping
A lengthy discussion took place and significant concerns regarding the impact of the developments were raised.
It was RESOLVED that Cllr Dr Byrd should be tasked with writing a response on behalf of Market Deeping Town Council and that it should include all the concerns raised at the meeting. Cllr Dr Byrd will draft a response and send it to all Councillors and the Clerk will then send it to planning officers, Directors and teams at both South Kesteven District Council and Peterborough City Council. The deadline is 18th February 2026.
The following response was agreed and submitted on 18 February 2026.
PCC ref: 26/00001/SCOP SKDC Ref: S26/0216
EIA Scoping Opinion | Land East Of Lincoln Road Market Deeping 150 dwellings etc
PCC ref: 26/00002/SCOP SKDC Ref: S26/0217
EIA Scoping Opinion | Land West Of Lincoln Road Market Deeping 1100 dwellings etc
An Extra Ordinary meeting of the Market Deeping Town Council’s Planning and Highways Committee was called and Councillors met on 17th February to discuss a single item agenda. The meeting considered its response to a request for comment about the EIA scoping for two significant development proposals on the edge of Market Deeping to the west (1100 homes) and east (150 homes) of Lincoln Road in the parish of Deeping Gate.
The correspondence from Peterborough CC to SKDC on 2nd February to SKDC Planning Department invited a cross-boundary consultation response to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Opinion relating to the identified sites on the boundary with Market Deeping. No Outline Planning Application for the sites has yet been submitted and the EIA will form part the preparation evidence for an application.
The committee members are all residents of the Deepings with considerable experience of how the roads, river and town services respond to changing local conditions. The Market Deeping Town Council represents the views of residents. Members debated the information provided in the documents and the overall conclusion based on the evidence is that the proposal for such a large-scale development in this location is alarming and completely unacceptable due to several material planning considerations. The three most substantial matters identified are:
Deterioration to effective Highways function – the development would present a serious negative impact on the local road network, particularly the A15 to Glinton - between south Lincolnshire and Peterborough which is already unable to function adequately at key times.
Danger to the balance of the Natural Environment – the development would knowingly contribute to an increased flood risk in the area – the River Welland has been the subject of several recent Flood Alerts and is currently seriously waterlogged (photos available). The Impact on local wildlife/biodiversity is also a concern.
Damage to the socio-economic functioning of the existing local Community – not a ‘new settlement’ but an inappropriately large extension to the very small Deeping Gate Parish as well as being a major urban extension placing additional pressure on all services in the Deepings.
The EIAs in their current presentation seem fundamentally flawed in their assumptions. Primarily the Deepings should be regarded as one neighbourhood with a population of 14-15K (ref the Deepings Neighbourhood Plan). Please also refer to the Deeping St. James Parish response for further details – i.e. population size, baseline data, cumulative impacts. Additionally, the EIAs fail to reference the cross-boundary relationship to South Kesteven Planning Policies or the Deepings Neighbourhood Plan Policies. We ask that SKDC and PCC work closely together and look carefully at the scoping schedule to revise it to ensure that the EIAs are very thorough in their assessment of these risks above and to take account of the matters raised and Reports requested previously when submitted during the Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation. Refer to the summary below.
These, and other matters, were submitted last May when specific assessment Reports were identified in response to the Regulation 18 consultation. The committee also request that the Reports listed below should be provided by independent experts rather than by the developer:
The reports listed below will have an important part to play in informing the Environmental Impact Assessment process and all these matters should be included in the revised version.
1. A full Traffic Assessment and Travel Plan Report of current and projected future road usage.
2. A full current and projected future Flood risk Report to model the changing impact of the site after completion of all the homes.
3. A full Health Service Report covering the increased requirement for provision of primary, secondary and tertiary services.
4. A full Education Provision Report modelling expected demand for all four school age groups, plus SEND and Youth provision.
5. A full Social Services and Additional Services Report to assess future capacity to support vulnerable residents of all ages.
6. A full Community Needs Assessment (or similar) to establish the likely level of integration with the Deepings community.
7. An Integrated Sustainable Travel Plan to develop and promote walking and cycling activity.
8. An Assessment of the potential for a Co-operation Agreement between PCC and SKDC to take account of the cumulative impact of large housing allocations on both side of the Deepings boundary.
9. A Report detailing the infrastructure plans for the new supplies of electricity, gas, broadband, water, safe sewage disposal.
10. A full review of local governance to address the needs of the proposed new Deeping extension including a potential boundary change. A willingness to enter discussions about a potential boundary change to transfer administrative responsibility for Deeping Gate Parish from PCC to a future south Lincolnshire authority (subject to LGR).
Initial dismay was also expressed at the lack of previous consultation over the proposal to develop the land East of Lincoln Road (150 homes) as this was not presented or consulted on in the required way during the Regulation 18 process in 2025.
Other matters noted:
The SKDC correspondence to MDTC on 11th February also indicated that requests could be made to secure a Section 106 Agreement in support of financial contributions from the development by identifying projects that might be necessary and reasonable to make the proposed development acceptable. We consider that this request may have been made in error and we would like clarification before discussing and responding to it.
111. For members to review any matters arising from the public session
There were none
The meeting closed at 8.10pm