Developer loses appeal to build on warehouse site

Developers wanted to demolish this Meldreth warehouse, as seen from above, and replace it with new homes

A developer has lost an appeal to demolish a warehouse and build 22 new homes on the edge of a village.

Talbot Homes had appealed to the Planning Inspectorate after plans to build new houses off the High Street in Meldreth were refused by South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The appeal was unsuccessful as the inspectorate believed the development would have a "harmful effect on the character and appearance of the area".

The homes were proposed to range in size from two to four bedrooms, with one of the homes being made available as affordable housing.

The developer argued that the plans would offer people a "good level of amenity and quality of life".

But the council raised concerns about the potential for some of the new houses to be overlooked by existing homes in Victoria Place.

It further argued that some of the private gardens would be overlooked to the extent that people living there would "not benefit from a private amenity space, resulting in a poor quality of life".

'Unacceptable'

In an appeal statement, Talbot Homes said: "It is accepted by the appellant that there would be some incidental overlooking of Unit 21 and 22's rear gardens from two-bedroom windows, one study window and one kitchen window at Victoria Place.

"However, this is not considered to be an unusual relationship in suburban density developments, where it is quite common to be able to see into more than one rear garden from first floor windows."

The planning inspectorate dismissed the appeal and said they believed the development would have a "harmful effect on the character and appearance of the area".

They highlighted that a large black walnut tree and a Leyland cypress hedge were proposed to be removed as part of the development, adding that cutting them down would still "significantly reduce the extent of the site's verdant boundary".

Addressing the privacy concerns, the inspectorate concluded that there would be "sufficient separation" between existing homes and Plot 21 and said it "would not be overlooked to a harmful extent".

The impact on Plot 22 would be "unacceptable" and the development "would not provide appropriate living conditions for future occupiers of Plot 22, with particular regard to privacy", the inspectorate added.