Application for 41 new flats in St Leonards is refused

The proposal sought permission for the construction of two additional floors on top of the current three-storey building at Willow Glen, located at the top end of Upper Glen Road, which would have almost doubled the number of occupants living there.

The proposal included 26 studio and 15 one-bedroom flats at a building which is currently home to 44 flats spread across three floors, and has 12 on-site parking spaces.

Prior approval of the application was refused by the local planning authority on Friday (January 8).

The application received a number of objections from residents who were particularly concerned about the lack of parking in the road, and from being overlooked by neighbours living in the higher floors of the development. In a planning and design statement submitted alongside the application, Liam Russell Architects said the additional 41 flats would not have access to on-street parking.

One resident said the lack of parking in Willow Glen has already led to residents parking in Upper Glen Road, where she lives.

She said cars are often parked on the pavement which results in pedestrians, and wheelchair and pushchair users going on to the road to get past.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said the lack of parking makes it difficult for emergency services to get through and said the additional flats would have made the problem worse.

He said there would have been no space for an additional 20 vehicles in Upper Glen Road.

Eleanor Evans, planning services manager, said the local planning authority was not satisfied that Willow Glen represented a ‘purpose-built’ block of flats as the existing building was constructed as an elderly persons warden-controlled complex which gained planning permission in 2014 for a change of use.

The planning authority also raised concerns about the impact the development would have on transport and highways, as well as the impact on neighbouring premises, including overlooking, privacy and loss of sight.

The authority said the absence of car and cycle parking facilities ‘would cause harmful highways safety issues detrimental to users of the highway’.

They also concluded that neighbours in Monarch Gardens would have a perception of being overlooked by people living in the proposed third and fourth floors. The authority said this was to the ‘detriment of their living conditions’ and ‘as such, this warrants withholding prior approval for the development’.