Planning permission has been granted for homes to be built on Green Belt land in a North Herts village.

North Herts Council has given the green light for nine houses to be built on former agricultural land next to Arnolds Farm in Chambers Lane, Ickleford.

The development site, which is currently unused, once formed part of Arnolds Farm, before being sold off from the farmhouse in the early 1970s.

The landowners, Lime Tree Developments Ltd, are a small family-owned development company who have owned this site for many years, and say they now wish to develop it to provide additional family homes for Ickleford.

Permission has been granted for three two-bed, four three-bed and two four-bed homes to be built, as well as parking, landscaping and the installation of vehicular access off Chambers Lane.

In a planning and development statement accompanying the application, it says Lime Tree Developments Ltd wants "to provide smaller family homes for the village, rather than a range of large executive homes".

The statement continues: "The proposed scheme will both complement and enhance the immediate surrounding area, being on the edge of the Ickleford Conservation Area, by its high standards of design and the use of high-quality materials and finishes.

"The proposed dwellings fronting onto Chambers Lane are designed to reflect a traditional cottage-style which is a characteristic of the village, to be built in red multi-facing brickwork, clay roof tiles and white timber-framed windows, which will blend well with the character properties along the southern side of the road.

"The impact upon the amenities of the occupiers of neighbouring residential dwellings is negligible in terms of loss of outlook, light and privacy by way of the siting, scale and design of the proposed properties."

To view the planning application in full, visit north-herts.gov.uk and search for reference 22/02205/FP in the planning portal.