A home replacement and demolition proposal criticised as ‘misleading’ and ‘premature’ by Seaview Parish Council has been given the go-ahead.
County Hall planners approved Mark Pacy’s bid to replace his home, Tamarisk, on Seaview’s Seagrove Manor Road, with a new property, despite opposition from Nettlestone and Seaview Parish Council (NSPC).
NSPC said the demolition at the site sets an ‘inappropriate precedent’ for future applications and undermines the planning process. Mr Pacy sought a retrospective approval for the demolition.
His agent, James Quigley, previously said the proposed 3-bedroom house is ‘in keeping with the aesthetics of the surrounding environment’.
Following a visit to Seagrove Manor Road at the beginning of this month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service found a new half-built structure on the land.
A NSPC spokesperson said:
“The council notes the application contains misleading information, including references to the existing building which has already been demolished.
“The documentation implies that development is being proposed on a site with an existing structure which is not accurate.
Article continues below this advertisement “The proposed development will result in significant overlooking of neighbouring properties, particularly those in Sandcove Rise. The elevated positioning and orientation of the proposed structure do not adequately safeguard the privacy of adjacent homes and gardens.
“The design fails to consider the character and spacing of surrounding dwellings, and its implementation would constitute an unacceptable loss of residential amenity for nearby occupants.”
Mr Quigley said the plans would ‘form improved living accommodation with the introduction of mobility aids to improve accessibility and the energy efficiency of the building’.
“It is considered that these proposals represent a modest replacement of a dwelling that is in keeping with the aesthetics of the surrounding environment.
“The scale and mass of the proposals offers a sympathetic balance between the need for a more suitable home and preserving the character of the original dwelling.”
County Hall’s decision report on application 25/00934/FUL said:
“Whilst it is acknowledged that the former dwellinghouse was demolished without planning consent, the applicant has the right to submit a planning application to rectify the situation and breaches of planning control are not a material consideration, nor reason for refusal.
“The former property that sat within the footprint of the proposed dwellinghouse and was recently demolished offered no architectural merit to the character of the area.
“The proposed dwelling house would assimilate well with surrounding built form whereby it would reflect elements of the existing character of the locality by virtue of having a similar appearance to dwellings in terms of design and scale which are apparent within the immediate street scene.
“The proposed development would not impact neighbouring amenity to a degree that would cause a level of unacceptable harm.”
Well, that’s driven a coach and horses through planning regulations?? From now on we just build whatever we fancy and submit retrospective plans if anyone accidentally finds out what we have done. Why not disband the planning department and transfer the salaries saved into the fire service
Excellent idea. One only has to look at Sandown High Street to see how effective Planning Enforcement appears to have been over many years.
So now anyone who wants to do the same can without permission thats is what it all boils down to
NSPC has no planning powers , in fact NSPC has no powers and rightly so, they have just got the hump that this applicant jumped the gun with his application,
Lets put this in context, the applicant jumped the gun in the way he did things but got subsquent approval for this re build when the planning unit could have said, no, rebuild it as it was, NSPC has no planning powers thank goodness, perhaps they should stick to coffee mornings and leave the decisions to grown ups.