The cows at a college’s farm are coming home and in the place where they once grazed will now stand an estate of 91 new houses.

Your Local Guardian:

At the end of last month councillors on Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s planning committee unanimously approved an update to the scheme for the Nescot site in Reigate Road, Ewell.

Although the same committee had already granted permission for the new estate in June last year, the developers Hill (working in partnership with Circle Housing) had sought to alter the plans by making the houses bigger, changing the architecture and redesigning the road layout.

The land for the new homes, which will include 55 for private sale, 11 shared ownership homes and 25 homes for affordable rent, has been made available by the college’s decision to relocate its animal husbandry site.

The new homes will come in a range of sizes, including two, three, four and five bedroom detached and semi-detached houses.

No matter what form it came in, the scheme for Nescot has not always enjoyed a smooth ride as far as local support goes.

In April last year there was an outcry over plans to include a care home (this was later refused by the council) and at the June meeting last year the atmosphere ranged from frosty to stormy according to reports in this newspaper at the time.

However, this time things seemed to proceed without a hitch, as Councillor Tina Mountain who sits on the planning committee said: "I think we all liked the changes, it reminded us very much of a similar project called Pauls Place in Ashtead.

"The bottom line is this is a brownfield, not a greenbelt, site and if this scheme wasn’t built something else would have been. Few can deny how badly we need housing in Epsom and this definitely goes a way towards addressing that problem."

The homes will benefit from two new areas of green open space, as well as road, cycleway and footpath improvements.

Hill also demonstrated a willingness to listen to public concerns as following a consultation it has added a green boulevard as well as an additional Toucan crossing in Reigate Road.

Nick Parkinson, design director at Hill said: "We’re pleased that the latest set of plans have been approved by councillors.

"The new homes will be centred around courtyards or landscaped areas, helping to bring a real sense of community to the development.

"We’re particularly proud of the way the new homes blend in with the surrounding landscape, and the ease with which both pedestrians and cyclists can connect with existing routes and pathways."

Nescot College will use the money generated from the sale of its land to fund a major refurbishment of its campus adding state-of-the-art buildings for hair and beauty, physiotherapy, construction and animal husbandry courses as well as a new learning disabilities centre, games area and college theatre.

Work for the housing is expected to begin towards the end of this year, and will take around two years to complete.