A developer may have hit the bullseye with plans for a small housing estate on a former firing range in Whitehill.

A wildlife corridor is a key part of the proposals to build seven homes on the Irvine’s Coal Yard site off Lemon Grove.

The L-shaped patch has become an overgrown eyesore in recent years with some locals treating the site as a dumping ground.

There have been numerous bids to redevelop the site but the current applicants believe previous schemes have misfired because they haven’t addressed “ecological prerogatives”.

The latest applicants, Caldwell Land Ltd (CCL) of Reigate, believe they have come up with a scheme that benefits both nature and the local housing supply.

The scheme involves a handful of three-bedroom homes, and a pair of four-bedroom homes, built around a cul-de-sac with the south of the plot becoming a W-shaped wildlife corridor.

Badger and reptile studies were carried out while the applicants from Reigate also learned the site has a “good population of slowworms” after engaging with ecologists.

“We have analysed the site’s ecological value in details and have considered how it can contribute to wildlife locally,” said CCL in their design and access statement.

“We considered carefully what areas of the site had the greatest ecological value and to formulate ideas relating how the site could be sensitively developed.

“The proposed housing enables the improvement and management of the wildlife corridor in perpetuity and contributes to local housing supply.”

A single ‘no objection’ has been submitted at the time of writing.