Friday 26 February 2016

Planning Refused - The Hollow

Following a great campaign led by a group of residents, who were against the proposed building of 20 homes on the land between Bath City Farm and Cotswold View on The Hollow, we are pleased to see that the application has been refused for the following reasons:

Address to which the proposal relates: Field Between City Farm And Cotswold View The Hollow Southdown Bath

Description of Proposal: Erection of 20no. dwellings and associated works.

Application submitted by: Juniper Homes (South West)Ltd

The above development is REFUSED in accordance with the application, plans and drawings submitted by you for the reason(s) set out below:

1 The proposed development will adversely affect the contribution that this important hillside location makes towards the character and landscape setting of Bath resulting in harm towards the Outstanding Universal Values of the Bath World Heritage Site and the setting of this part of the Bath Conservation Area. The public benefits of the scheme do not outweigh the identified harm to these heritage assets. The proposal is therefore considered to be contrary to policies NE.1, NE.3 and BH.6 of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan, policies B4 and CP6 of the Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy and the National Planning Policy Framework.

2 The proposed development, due to the scale, massing, form and materials, fails to respond to the local context and is considered to be harmful to the character and appearance of the area contrary to policies D.2 and D.4 of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan, policy CP6 of the Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy and the National Planning Policy Framework.

3 The proposed development is not able to provide the appropriate recommended ecological mitigation, will cause harm to the remaining features of ecological value and will result in a net loss to ecology contrary to policy NE.9 of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan, policy CP6 of the Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy and the National Planning Policy Framework.

4 The proposed development results in the clustering of affordable housing, does not deliver tenure blindness and does not promote effective social integration contrary to the Planning Obligations SPD 2015, policy CP9 of the Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy and the National Planning Policy Framework.

5 The proposed development has failed to demonstrate that satisfactory access to a public highway can be achieved. For this reason the proposal is contrary to the key aims of Policy T.24 of the Bath & North East Somerset Local Plan, and the National Planning Policy Framework, which seek to provide adequate and safe access to all development sites.

6 The application has failed to secure the provision of 30% affordable housing, a Site Specific Targeted Recruitment and Training in Construction scheme and a contribution towards the provision of additional fire hydrants as required by the Planning Obligations SPD 2015. The proposal is therefore contrary to policies CP9 and CP13 of the Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy and the Planning Obligations SPD 2015.

Local Campaigner Sarah Moore said "This is really good news and a great result for the local residents that put such effort into their campaign".

Councillor Tim Ball added "We are aware the applicant could appeal this decision, however, we are going to push to get this land formally designated as green space".