A £500,000 family home is to be demolished and replaced with a three-storey block of flats in a leafy commuter-belt village near London after a council waved through a planning application.
The 19-bedroom building, which will contain nine flats, was given the green light by Labour-controlled Croydon council despite being almost three times the size of the most buildings in the area and sparking almost 300 complaints.
Neighbours accused the council of being ‘inconsistent’ when handling the plans from developer Aventier and said the proposed structure was ‘unquestionably’ out of character with the area.
However, councillors still voted through the development on Marlpit lane last month as they said the borough needed more homes.
Barratt Homes moved into the hill next to Old Coulsdon five years ago and began building 675 new houses on the site of a former Victorian mental asylum.
A £500,000 family home is to be demolished and replaced with a three-storey block of flats in a quiet village near London after Croydon council waved through a planning application. (Pictured) The Marlpit lane property before the development (left) and an artists impression of what it will look like upon completion (right)
The development will contain two three-bed flats, six two-bed flats and a single one-bed flat. It will be between the home of a family-of-five and two pensioners in their eighties who are trying to enjoy their retirement. (Pictured) Architect Bruce Blackhall, who has worked on Grade II-listed buildings in London, created this artists impression of the street once the block of flats is completed (right)
Neighbours have accused the council of being ‘inconsistent’ with their handling of the planning application and said that the development is ‘unquestionably’ out of character with the area. (Pictured) The view from the property owned by the pensioners in their eighties before the development will be built (left) and what it is estimated to look like after the development (right)
The property on Marlpit lane (circled in red) is where the three-storey block of flats will be built that will contain 19 bedrooms
The block will contain two three-bed flats, six two-bed flats and a single one-bed flat when it is finished.
Just nine parking spaces, or one per flat, are being built to accommodate the expected couples and families when they move into the area.
It will jut out twelve metres behind the home of a retired couple in their 80s on one side, who are trying to enjoy their retirement.
It will also result in ten windows overlooking the garden of a family-of-five’s home on the other side, and will stick out eight metres in front of their property.
Homeowner Paul Harper, 56, who lives next door, accused councillors of ‘not giving a monkies’ about the village after the plans were considered at a meeting for less than 25 minutes.
‘They didn’t discuss it, they didn’t even debate what we had to say. They just rushed it through,’ he said.
‘The Labour councillors just give a carte blanche to everything’.
A map of the groundfloor of the proposed building with nine parking spaces, including one disabled space. Distressed neighbour Paul Harper, 56, has accused councillors of ‘not giving a monkies’ about the village after considering the plans for less than 25 minutes before rubber-stamping them at a council meeting
A planners view showing how the approved property is estimated to slot in next to its neighbours. It will just about hit the same height as one of the houses next door but will extend around 12 metres behind the house
These sketches show how the house will extend behind its neighbours and how it will look at the back of the house. There is also a planned garden behind the house for people living in the block to use
Architect Bruce Blackhall, who has directed developments of grade-II listed buildings near London’s Liverpool Street station and lives in the area, said it was ‘clearly out of character with the area’.
Infrastructure in the area is unlikely to be able to cope, he said, as the building adds 17-shower rooms and eight kitchens to an already beleaguered network.
He also noted that the flat for a disabled person had a ceiling 10 centimetres below the London requirement, and that there was no provision for a mobility scooter.
The proposal also fell short of the London parking standards, he said, as it only offered one car space for each flat, and was noted to have almost double the habitable density of other properties in the area.
In a tense meeting earlier this month, councillor Margaret Bird said the development was being ‘shoehorned’ into the village.
Representing almost 300 objections, she said: ‘This property is unquestionably in conflict with the preservation of the site and surrounding area, an aspiration of Croydon’s plan.
A map of the ground floor of the proposed building. Councillor Margaret Bird said that the development had been ‘shoehorned’ into the village at a council meeting. Representing
A view of the leafy commuter-belt road in Old Coulsdon where the three-storey block of nine flats will be built. Its proposal has sparked anger in the area, with Croydon council receiving almost 300 complaints
A view of the leafy commuter-belt road in Old Coulsdon. Councillor Margaret Bird, speaking at a Croydon council meeting in objection to the planning application, said that the proposed development was ‘not good quality residential accommodation that makes a positive contribution to Old Coulsdon’.
‘An inconsistent approach in processing this application is evident, notably, in terms of the casm between pre-application advice, current recommendations and the disregard of key aspects of the local and national policy planning framework.
‘This is not good quality residential accommodation that makes a positive contribution to Old Coulsdon.’
However, representing the developers, Michael White said that the block, which includes gardens less than a metre wide, offered ‘high quality’ housing and was ‘in keeping’ with its surroundings.
‘The development incorporates a traditional-style appearance at the front while maintaining the overall street scene by using similar materials to nearby properties to ensure that it matches the surroundings,’ he said.
Aventier claims on its website that it is an expert in providing ‘modest developments’ and ‘great designs’ that are ‘in character with your neighbourhood’.