Planning Appraisal Group - TrustNews March 09
The number of appeals going through the system gives the impression that developers are keeping themselves busy during the hiatus in their flow of work by trying to overturn the previous refusals of their applications.
The developers of two schemes reported as being refused in the August TrustNews have both gone to appeal. The proposed residential development at the Winchester Laundry, Hyde Abbey Road, is to be decided at a Public Inquiry, and we have a written a letter supporting the refusal, and the apartment block and four town houses on the site of West Hayes Lodge, Sarum Road, is to have an Informal Hearing. We would have written supporting this refusal, but unfortunately did not receive our usual notification of the event. Our reasons for objecting to these schemes are given in the June TrustNews.
We have also written in support of the refusals of two other schemes, both of which have gone to appeal by Written Representation. The most important of these is the proposal to build 14 dwellings on land adjacent to St John’s Croft, Blue Ball Hill, which we felt would be detrimental to the locality, for the reasons set out in the August TrustNews. In comparison with this, the other scheme for a two storey side extension and a single storey rear extension at 38 Milverton Road, might seem somewhat inconsequential, but this is an important corner site that can be seen from both Milverton Road and Fordington Avenue. While the Trust welcomes contemporary designs that are appropriate for their surroundings, this did not seem to be the case here, because the design of the extensions seemed to be based on the architect’s ‘in-house’ view of style rather than on how it would relate to either the existing house or its prominent corner position.
The Public Inquiry considering the refusal of the development at Chestnut Mead, Kingsgate Road, has been withdrawn,while the decision on the Public Inquiry into the Aldi proposal for the site at The Chimneys and 1 Burnett Close is still awaited. The appeal to allow the conversion of 1 Westman Close and build a 3-bedroom house on this restricted corner site has been dismissed. We also attended the Informal Hearing of the proposed residential development following the demolition of Kirtling House, 52 Chilbolton Avenue, for which a decision has still to be made.
The proposals to install kiosks combining public phones and ByBox storage facilities at the corner of Jewry Street and St George’s Street and at the Market Entrance, Andover Road, have both been refused.
Decisions have been made on two developments on Sleepers Hill: the plan to develop four dwellings on the site adjoining Sleepers Hill House, which we felt could be acceptable, was refused; whereas the large block of flats on the site adjoining the Day House, which we considered inappropriate for the character of the road, for the reasons given in the December TrustNews, was granted. The business park proposed for the site of Pilot Clothing, Chilcomb Lane, has also been approved.
It seems that permission for the development on the Greenacres site has been seized upon as a precedent for other high-density schemes on the Andover Road. We objected to a proposal to build a block incorporating a 3-bedroom house and two 2-bedroom flats at 109 Andover Road, because it would have a density of 47.3dph that would result in overdevelopment of the site (we also felt that the description given was misleading). The application was withdrawn in November, but another proposal will no doubt be put forward for this site.
The most recent application along the road is to demolish 79 Andover Road, a house of no great architectural merit, for a block housing a mixture of 1- and 2-bedroom accommodation that would result in a density of 73dph, which we felt would be uncharacteristic of the area. We strongly objected to the structure as being too large in height and mass and having a so-called traditional design that lacked the incident on the roofline that would be expected, such as chimneys. The site is not in a Conservation Area, where felling trees requires planning permission, and it is very much to be regretted that at least half a dozen trees have already been felled to make way for development.
In past years the Trust has urged the City to produce plans for areas under threat of development, such as Chilbolton Avenue. Sadly, the local development consultations needed here were undertaken rather too late, after the proverbial horse had escaped through the stable door and the character of the road was irrevocably changed. The signs are that the Andover Road is another perceived honeypot for developers, as Stoney Lane could also be, where a developer is already making enquiries about the availability of suitable plots for redevelopment along the road. This comes as no surprise to the Trust, which has previously raised this possibility with the Planning Department because the low density of the bungalows along Stoney Lane makes the area a clear candidate for development. We therefore urge that the requisite consultations are undertaken without delay, so that well-considered area plans for the developments will result, rather than the collection of haphazard schemes that are evident in Chilbolton Avenue.
The number of applications wending their way through the system is much smaller than in the past, but many people still want to extend and alter their properties, unsurprisingly considering the miniscule storage space provided in most new developments. Others wish to make a profit from building in their gardens, with or without the existing house. Some of these schemes are acceptable, but others are not, usually because it is proposed that too much is to be crammed onto the site. The sad thing about all too many schemes is the standard of their design: most are bog standard traditional, but lack the detailing that would make them satisfactory, while others use the description ‘contemporary’ to produce an architecturally trendy design that has nothing in common with its surroundings in either style or use of materials. Very few have a design that is both contemporary and respectful of its position in the existing neighbourhood.