22/4/2008

Local News in Fleet

Complex for elderly rejected

A bid to redevelop a crumbling complex for elderly people has been thrown out by a government planning inspector.

Sentinel Housing Association wanted to demolish 25 bungalows in Campbell Close, Fleet, and replace them with a series of three and four-storey blocks totalling 63 flats.

The scheme divided the community.

Neighbours warned the development would lead to further high-rise blocks in the area and make parking problems even worse, while residents of crumbling sheltered housing in the area said they desperately needed new purpose-built homes.

Hart District Council’s planning committee threw out the application but Sentinel appealed and the issue was thrashed out before government inspector Malcolm Rivett, who has now dismissed the appeal.

In his report, issued on Thursday last week Mr Rivett said the main issues were the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, including the nearby North Fleet Conservation Area, the living conditions of nearby residents and highway safety, particularly with regard to car parking.

He said another main issue was the effect of the proposal on the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA), land protected because it is the habitat for a number of threatened bird species.

Mr Rivett concluded that the design of the proposal was appropriate for the site and would cause no significant harm to the character of the surrounding area, including the conservation area.

He also found the proposal was acceptable in terms of car parking provision and its effect on neighbouring residents and ruled it would meet a need for high quality housing for the elderly on a sustainably located, previously developed site.

However, Mr Rivett said he could not be certain that the proposal would not have a significant adverse effect on the integrity of the SPA and as a result he dismissed the appeal.

The result has pleased Cllr Richard Appleton, whose Fleet West ward covers the site.

He spoke against the application when it was discussed by Hart’s planning committee and also gave evidence at the appeal on behalf of residents and the Fleet and Crookham Civic Society.

Cllr Appleton told the Mail: “I’m pleased with the overall decision.

“However, I still don’t agree that the design is good but then the government is telling us to build all kinds of rubbish nowadays.

“What I really hope now is that Sentinel will take the opportunity to address the concerns of residents and show some sort of commitment to Fleet.”

Residents offered their differing views on the scheme during the two-day public inquiry at Hart District Council’s Fleet offices in February.

Tavistock Road resident Caron Holmes voiced concern that residents of the proposed development would not be able to park in Campbell Close because of a lack of spaces.

She claimed motorists already use Tavistock Road, opposite Campbell Close, as a makeshift over-spill car park.

Mrs Holmes said Tavistock Road is used by schoolchildren and was concerned that parked cars make the road unsafe.

But Campbell Close resident Enid Hughes spoke in support of the scheme.

She described the proposed development as “beautiful” and said the future was an eco-development such as the one planned for Campbell Close.

Mrs Hughes told the inquiry: “People like bright, airy windows, not little ones.

“Every day for the last six years I have had to put my bedroom and kitchen light on because it is so dark.

“The tenants have suffered two stressful years now. We have to move. Some folk are in their 80s and 90s and want to get on with what lives they have left and feel secure.”

Scott Stemp, representing Hart District Council, told the inquiry that the substantial bulk, massing and height of the proposed development was out of context with the surrounding area.

However, Harry Wolton QC, representing Sentinel Housing Association, said the proposed development was sustainable and its density was in accordance with planning policies.

Hart received nearly 50 letters of objection to the scheme.

People objected to the scale of the plans, claiming they looked like “students’ flats on the cheap”.

The council also received nine letters of support, plus a 75-name petition signed by elderly people from Campbell Close, Albany Court, Rosefield Court, Wickham Court and Curtis Court, saying they would welcome the flats.

First printed in: Fleet News and Mail