Demolition of existing dwellings; erection of a two-storey development with roof accommodation comprising 8 family dwellings; provision of new access; provision of 12 parking spaces, refuse and recycling stores, secure cycle parking and communal landscaped amenity space. Awaiting decision.

The CRA has submitted the following comments on this application. 

(1) The area is characterised by substantial, predominantly detached houses in mature, spacious gardens. Individual dwellings may vary but plots generally contain a single detached dwelling, on two storeys, sometimes with additional accommodation in the roof.  Hollymeoak Road has a particularly leafy character, reinforced by the dense hedgerow and open fields opposite.  The principal issues relate to - the impact the development will have on the character and appearance of the area and the visual amenity of the street scene in Hollymeoak Road, the impact on the amenities of the occupiers of the adjoining and neighbouring properties

(2) The Council policies state that it will require all new development to contribute to enhancing a sense of place and improving the character of the area. Development should respect the character of the area and have regard to the form and layout of existing and adjacent dwellings, privacy and maintenance of sunlight or daylight.  Any proposal should not cause harm to the amenity of neighbouring dwellings particularly as regards dominance or overshadowing.  Despite this development being described as 2 storey with use of roof space, it is in fact 3 storey and with the use of the roof space.  With the scale, bulk, mass and depth of the design, this development would be a discordant feature in this verdant setting detrimental to the character of the area.

(3) The DAS states that this application has been crafted to meet all the previous objections.  Crafted is an apt description, but notwithstanding the craft, the impact of this revised application will be little different to the previous one that was refused, putting the individual plots together into one development changes nothing.  For each plot it is proposed there will be 4 houses as per the previous failed application.  The DAS diagrams show each block of 4 terraced houses has 3x three bed and 1 x four bed property.  However, the text states that there will be 4 x 3 bed properties and 4 x 4 bed properties – so 2 of each on both plots.  In reality, the plans quite clearly show that there are 4-bedroom sized rooms in each property of each block of 4, merely renaming a room as “a study” rather than a bedroom does not change the potential of the development.  This proposal will intensify development and occupation levels for each plot on the site significantly and consequently the need for a car and parking as this is a non-sustainable site.

(4) The frontage of the development will be car dominated, being laid out with 6 parking spaces per terraced block of 4 houses.  There will be insufficient parking for each block of 4 family size units that are proposed.  It is likely with family properties of this size that more than one family member will have a car, especially in this location.  With this number of spaces for this number of houses, there is insufficient parking for residents with no parking provision for visitors or space for deliveries.  There is nowhere to safely park in surrounding roads and parking on Hollymeoak Road itself would be dangerous to other road users on this busy, commuting cut-through.  Accessibility is poor in this area with no pavements for pedestrians and no cycle paths.

(5) The size, depth and mass of the 4-house blocks will be dominant and overbearing of neighbouring properties particularly 27 Hollymeoak Road which is at a lower ground level than the development sites.  Along the length of Hollymeoak Road, the land slopes down fairly steeply towards the east. The properties to either side of the development site are set at markedly different levels, following the sloping nature of the road. This pattern is repeated along the length of Hollymeoak Road, with each successive dwelling stepping incrementally down the hill. While the proposed buildings would be a similar width to the existing dwellings and set back a similar distance from the road, they would have a much more substantial depth and this would be exposed to view from higher sections of the road, in which they would appear bulky and imposing compared to the surrounding dwellings.

(6) Although there are some substantial dwellings in the near-by local area, they have the scale and character of single detached dwellings and are well integrated into their garden settings and do not dominate the street scene. The proposed terraced blocks would be a dominant feature in the street scene and be a clear departure from the current pattern of single substantial dwellings in the surrounding area. Due to their greater mass and overall proportions, inserting the proposed development into the street scene would make for a dominant and imposing addition that would look incongruous in this environment.

(7) Comparison has been made in the DAS to other recent developments in the surrounding area, none are directly comparable to this proposed development nor provide support for this application.

(8) At the appeal for the previous application that would have led to 4 houses on one of the plots, the inspector concluded that the proposed development would harm the character and appearance of the area and that no other matter could outweigh the harm that would be done.  In considering this revised application covering plots 29 & 31 as one development site, it is the same as the previous application to similarly put 4 terraced x 4 bed houses on each plot and the same conclusion can be reached that the harm to the character and appearance of the area that this development will inflict cannot be outweighed by any other matter.

The CRA request that this application is refused.