RESIDENTS who thwarted plans for 56 homes on a 2.7-acre site in March, learned this week the part- EU-funded backers of the scheme have spent £15,000 on a fresh application. The scheme is part of a multi-million-pound county wide Smartlife initiative to t

RESIDENTS who thwarted plans for 56 homes on a 2.7-acre site in March, learned this week the part- EU-funded backers of the scheme have spent £15,000 on a fresh application.The scheme is part of a multi-million-pound county wide Smartlife initiative to tackle the need for more affordable housing.Already Chatteris has benefited from a £6.5million housing development in Beaufort Drive and Smartlife is keen to rekindle its proposed development of the former Hereward School playing field off Norwood Road.Despite an officers' recommendation of approval, Fenland District Council's planning committee rejected the proposals in October, claiming too many houses were proposed for the site.However, Warden Housing, which plans to build the homes as part of the Smartlife initiative, has this week re-submitted proposals to Fenland planners.Its agent Alex Murray said the scheme was one of a number of "UK showcase demonstration projects" which had "twin aims of meeting Fenland housing demands and assessing the efficiencies of modern methods of construction".Mr Murray said Warden Housing hoped to complete 20 two-bedroom homes and 36 three-bedroom homes. The site, area and density accord with the district wide plan.After last year's refusal, Mr Murray said: "Housing will happen there but it has got to be done in a form that is acceptable to the local council. The question comes down to how many houses we can get on there."Before the first scheme was rejected, residents complained the field was valuable open space for sport, they would prefer bungalows to houses, and the development would result in a loss of privacy and reduce the value of their homes.