“A number of concerns” led the Planning Committee to reject controversial plans for an apartment complex on the former Cleveland Garage site, despite the project being recommended for approval by the Planning Department.
The 29-apartment development on St Clement’s Road had been recommended for approval by a Planning officer – who said that it made sustainable and efficient use of brownfield land, offered high-quality homes, and resolved previous design concerns raised following the rejection of the previous 32-apartment scheme last year.
But the Planning Committee ultimately voted to reject the revised application last week.
Committee vice-chair Deputy Alex Curtis said that the revised plans presented several challenges, including pricing, impact on potential neighbours, and overall scale.
Around 50 neighbours lodged public comments in relation to the application, opposing the scheme. Several of those also attended the Planning Committee meeting last week to give their views in person.
Deputy Curtis and his fellow committee members – Deputy Andy Howell and Constables Mark Labey, Marcus Troy and Richard Honeycombe – ultimately voted to reject the plans.
Deputy Steve Ahier was the only committee member to side with the officer’s recommendation for approval.
Deputy Curtis said, in particular, the committee “did not consider the marketing exercise to demonstrate redundancy” and had issue with the proposed cost compared to other marketed sites and a lack of a freehold sale price.
He also said there were concerns in relation to the project’s impact on neighbours and found policy challenges with the scale and density of the proposed development.
Had the application been approved, the scheme would have been subject to planning obligations including £56,300 of enhancements to the eastern cycle route, £27,000 spent on off-site children’s play space, and a £7,500 financial contribution to ensure residents of the development received subsidised access to an electric-car-share scheme.
All decisions made that go against an officer’s recommendation result in the Planning Committee publishing a report in which they set out their reasons.