Plans for a bungalow in Lake has been refused again by the Isle of Wight Council.
The applicants, WS Group, however, have slammed the council for ‘only paying lip service to proactive working’ and ‘for only finding problems, not solutions’.
Both applications refused
A revised application had been submitted to the council to build a two-bedroom bungalow on vacant land between the Premier Inn and Broadlea Primary School’s school field, after planners deemed the previously proposed dwelling inappropriate due to its position, scale and design.
The first application was refused at the end of 2019, and in emails supplied by WS Group as part of the new application, it criticised the council’s planning team for not delaying the determination of the application so they could find solutions to the reasons for refusal.
Criticism for planning office
In a supporting statement for the latest application, WS Group said,
“There was not any proactive involvement from the council until they were timed out in being forced to make a decision.
“The planning application was made without acknowledging any of the solutions which the applicant had proposed to dispel any objection.”
Further documents asked the council to propose solutions to any issues they had with the plans if they were not adequate.
A fundamental and principle objection
Responding to comments of the same nature made by WS Group before the second application was submitted, the case officer for the application said the council had a fundamental and principle objection to the dwelling, so there would be no benefit to delay the determination.
They went on to say the concerns could not be addressed through negotiations or revisions and the council does support proactive working where developments are considered sustainable.
Proposals remained largely unchanged
In the refusal notice, Oliver Boulter, the council’s planning and infrastructure strategic manager, said the proposals remained largely unchanged with no pre-application advice sought and was refused on four of the five grounds it was rejected for previously.
The council also said the bungalow would have a harmful and detrimental impact on the surrounding area with its design ‘lacking particular architectural merit and would appear bland and of poor quality’.
Should the applicant wish to appeal the council’s decision, it can raise the matter with the Planning Inspectorate.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
