Plans for homes on physiotherapy centre rejected again

Monday 12 December 2022

An application to demolish a physiotherapy clinic in St. Saviour and build two modern homes on the site has been rejected by the Planning Committee.

The group of politicians, who determine more significant and controversial applications, concluded that the four-bedroom house and three-bedroom house that would replace Reaction Physiotherapy off Bon Air Lane constituted overdevelopment of the site.

The application was recommended for approval by the Planning Department but the committee voted by five votes to one to refuse the application.

Several neighbours, including three who live in a property called Primose Hill next to the clinic, spoke against the proposed development at Thursday's Planning Committee meeting.

They raised privacy and sunlight concerns and also argued that it would be better to build flats rather than two homes.

Pictured: The site of the physiotherapy centre in St. Saviour (Credit: Google Maps).

Applicant Judith de Carteret said that the building was not fit for purpose, and it was not economically viable to upgrade it. She added that she had tried to rent out and sell the property without success. 

Her planning adviser, Stephanie Steedman of KE Planning, said that the proposal, for two modern family homes, met all relevant policies of the Bridging Island Plan and there would be no unreasonable harm on neighbouring properties.

While the Committee recognised that the existing building was beyond redevelopment, the majority concluded that the plans did not meet a number of policies outlined in the BIP, including those referring to ‘placemaking’, and ‘design quality’.

Proposals to demolish and replace Reaction Physiotherapy with two four-bedroom homes were put forward in 2021 but were refused then because it was considered to be an overdevelopment of the site.