Development Control - TrustNews Jun 04
Decisions made for previously mentioned schemes include refusals for developments at Dolphin House, St Peter Street, and 64 Quarry Road. The scheme for 12 new dwellings at The Grange, St Cross Road, has been granted.
The proposal to convert the Royal Observer Corps, Abbotts Road, to residential use has been deferred for further discussion with English Heritage, who feel the building is of historical and cultural importance because the structure is innovative and uses an early form of pre-cast concrete, and is currently the sole remaining unmodified example of a wartime ROC centre in the UK. Although in bad condition, it is not considered beyond saving. Arguments against its retention were that it is an ugly wartime interloper into the neighbourhood which would compromise future development of the site, and that its conversion to residential use would lose its historic value. The developer's original scheme respected the diagonal siting of the Listed Building, but the layout presented in the application, following consultation with the City's Urban Designers, was much disliked by members of the Sub Committee because the suggested development around the perimeter of the site would create a hard urban edge that wasn't typical of the area, where houses are set back from the road boundary, and would be very obtrusive to houses in Maningford Close, north of the site. They also felt the style of architecture should reflect the character of the area rather than that of the intruding wartime structure.
Bewley Homes have put in another scheme for a development behind 3-9 Park Road, and although the number of dwellings has been reduced from 25 to 22, the density is still high for the area (36 dwellings per hectare (dph) including the existing 4 houses) and we felt it was excessive that every unit seemed to be allocated 2 car-parking spaces, whether they had four bedrooms or only one. There has also been an outline application to build 5 terraced dwellings and a block of 9 flats on land at 1-3 Westley Close, in a layout consisting of a sea of parked cars sandwiched between two large blocks. We have objected to both developments.
We have also objected to a proposal to build a terrace of three dwellings in the curtilage behind The Prince of Wales, 26 Hyde Street. It is proposed that the deserted pub, a Listed Building should be converted to residential use, which seemed acceptable, but we felt that some of the alterations to the south elevation were not, and that the new 2 and 3 storey terrace would be very detrimental to the gardens of the adjoining and other neighbouring properties, and would constitute over-development of the site. This has now been refused.
The Trust has also objected most strongly to the outline application by Cala Homes for their proposed development at Barton Farm, Andover Road, as being extremely premature. As the need for this land has not yet been triggered, there is no public brief, and consequently the City's infrastructure would be ill-prepared for the great influx of new residents from this vast development. Before anything of this size is even considered, a master-plan for the whole City should be drawn up, together with a transport policy for Winchester and its environs.
A large development of 47 new dwellings is proposed at Osborne School, Andover Road, (previously Lankhills School), on a site just east of the railway bridge. It is good that the buildings have clearly been designed for the site and have a crisp and uncluttered appearance, but some aspects are worrying, such as the proposal to transplant a thriving Tulip tree over 14 metres tall. It seems very questionable that it would survive, and we consider the layout should accommodate its retention in situ, even if this means the loss of up to four units - this would only reduce the density from the proposed 56dph to 51 dph, which is still fairly high. It might also help to reduce the effect the additional traffic from the development will have on the already over-loaded Andover Road, where at rush hour the vehicles waiting to cross the City Road traffic lights can be queuing as far back as the bridge.
Two schemes, one for a detached 2-bedroom house in the garden of 35 Fordington Avenue, and the other for two 2-bedroom semi-detached dwellings in the garden of 38 Milverton Road, are in fact sited side-by-side. They are also bang opposite a recently completed pair of semidetached houses and, being in the 'dog-leg' turn of Fordington Avenue that leads to Milverton Road, the three buildings are in a stretch of road devoid of any other houses. It is therefore important that they should all relate to each other, and as one scheme has been withdrawn and the other is awaiting a decision, we have urged that the applicants should be persuaded to draw up a joint scheme for the two new developments. If ever there was a case for Joined-Up Planning, this is it!