Go ahead given to housing scheme described as 'cross between Coronation Street and Colditz'
Dorset Council Planners say they're happy with the changes made to the new homes planned for Child Okeford
Changes to a gateway housing site for Child Okeford which councillors rejected in March have now been approved after the developer made changes to the original plans.
The decision came despite the continued objections of neighbours and the parish council.
One said the housing scheme would ruin her views of the sunset – to be replaced by an outlook onto a brick wall.
She described the plans as “a cross between Coronation Street and Colditz.”
Another resident claimed: “apart from tweaking it around the edges nothing has changed since it was last rejected by the committee… the applicant has still not listened to the residents, the parish council or the views of the last committee.”
Planning officer Robert Lennis said the changes made were acceptable in planning terms and there was not highways objection to the revised scheme, which residents said would add unacceptable levels of traffic to the area.
The plot, off Haywards Lane and to the west of Allen Close, already has permission in principle. It lies outside the village conservation area with existing developments alongside.
A number of objections from residents said the design of the homes were more urban than rural with some claiming the development would have an impact on views from and to Hambledon Hill.
Mrs Lesley Taylor objected to the proposals from ELT Bournemouth Ltd, the company behind the scheme, saying the development, on an important gateway to the village, would be out of place and keeping, resulting in a loss of privacy for adjoining homes.
“When completed the view will look like a cross between the ginnel in Coronation Street and Colditz,” she said.
Another nearby neighbour, Mark Courage, said the company had made changes which tweaked the design around the permitter and had ended up concentrating more on the proposed public open space than anything else.
“It will appear out of place and out of keeping… a red brick urban development,” he said.
Most of the homes on the site are planned as two and three-bed with five 4-bed homes and a play area and public open space for the eastern section of the site.Ten of the homes will be designated as “affordable”.
Dorset Council planning officers had recommended approval for the scheme saying that the “The layout, scale, appearance and landscaping of the site have evolved positively through discussions between the officer and the applicant. The appearance of the proposed dwellings draws on the better features of Child Okeford and the scale is reflective of the surrounding development. The layout retains important trees and hedging and would not result in the serious loss of amenity. ”