PLANNING permission for three new houses in Didcot has been rejected after residents petitioned against them.
Peter Wotton applied through Duncan Wolage Architects Ltd to developed three new detached houses and garages at the land between Manor Road and Lydalls Close.
The proposed area has been used as a paddock in recent years with animals such as ponies, cows, geese and chickens.
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In an application submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council, it shows the homes would have been similar to a chalet bungalow style with eaves just above the ground-floor windows and the first-floor accommodation to be located in the roof void.
However, planning permission was refused on Friday, September 6 after residents petitioned against the development, expressing concerns about flooding, traffic and conservation.
Speaking at a Didcot Town Council’s planning and development committee meeting on August 7, one resident said they lived ‘very close’ to the land and had created a petition with 84 signatures against the proposal.
They said the residents had concerned about it being the only available green space in the area and that the development would ‘not be in keeping’ with the surroundings.
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It was heard that there were also concerns about adding to the existing traffic issues and the ‘impact on water run-off’.
A second resident, at the same meeting, echoed the comments stating that the ‘conservation area was unique within the entire district with its historic setting and the tranquillity it provides to the local community’.
They added that the proposal would be ‘overdevelopment’ and would ‘significantly alter the character’ of the area.
Responding to the comments, Didcot councillors agreed to propose rejecting the application. In a joint statement, they wrote: “The proposed development will have a severe, negative impact on the character of the area, and alter the overall appearance of the landscape within the conservation area.
“The proposed development would also have a severe and negative impact on the local flooding, as the Lydalls Road area is already prone to flooding.”
In a decision notice to reject the proposal, South Oxfordshire District Council wrote: “The site comprises a significant part of an important open and undeveloped space within the Old Didcot Conservation Area within close proximity to a number of listed buildings.”
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They added that the development would ‘erode important open space’.
Concerns were also expressed about the ‘inadequate visibility at the access onto Manor Road’ as well as the plans not including a ‘drainage strategy for disposing of surface water’.
Mr Wotton has six months to appeal the decision.
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