Issue - meetings

Item 9: Erection of 2no. 3 bedroom dwellings with associated vehicle access.

112 Teg Down Meads, Winchester, SO22 5NZ

Case number: 20/01390/FUL

During public participation, Joanne McLeod (Adams Hendry consulting on behalf of Mr and Mrs Brown) and Janine Wright spoke in objection to the application and Jeremy Tyrell (agent) spoke in support of the application and answered Members’ questions thereon.

During public participation, Councillor Weir spoke on this item as Ward Member.

In summary, Councillor Weir stated that she was supporting over 30 local residents who were objecting to the application. Councillor Weir considered that planning policy criteria had not been adequately addressed prior to making the recommendation set out in the report and that the context of development had important ramifications for the character of the whole Teg Down area. She stated that on the planning criteria, the proposal was of questionable design quality and responded poorly to the neighbouring buildings and local context.  It also resulted in a striking loss of green space, lacked distinctive character and reduced the quality of the local environment. Councillor Weir suggested that the increased density of two additional dwellings tipped the balance towards urbanisation and failed to respect the countryside feel of the area as a whole. She made reference to the objection submitted by the City of Winchester Trust, the development and its barriers towards wildlife corridors, the impact on the natural environment and also expressed concerns regarding insufficient parking provision.

In conclusion, Councillor Weir stated that the proposal was not for family homes, due to their limited amenity and recreational space. She believed that there were at least eight more corner plots that could be considered as alternative potential sites for development.  Councillor Weir also referred to the principle of developing gateway sites in Teg Down which had been established with corner developments, whereby one additional two to three bed dwellings had been successfully built, offering generous off road parking and amenity space which this proposal failed to achieve. Therefore Councillor Weir urged the committee to refuse the application.

At the conclusion of debate, the committee voted to refuse permission for the following reasons: contrary to policy CP13 of Local Plan Part 1 and policies DM15 and DM16 of Local Plan Part 2 by reason of the number and size of the units, resulting in an overdevelopment of the site, out of keeping with the pattern and spatial characteristics of the area to the detriment of the character and appearance of the area.