When new home owners moved into the very desirable development at the former London Irish site they had bought in to the “Superior living in a beautifully landscaped setting....stunning 3, 4, and 5 bedroom houses combined with a village setting” in the Crest Nicholson prospectus and had paid prices commensurate with that vision.
It is not surprising therefore, that an amended application to replace the four x 5 bedroom houses with a block of 24 flats was viewed as a breach of good faith and would also irrevocably alter the character of the “village setting” marketed by Crest Nicholson themselves.
Local councillor, Alf Friday, combined with residents to oppose the application at Planning Committee and succeeded (against officer recommendation) to persuade the Committee to refuse unanimously on the grounds that ‘The proposed development, which is in a prominent location when entering the site through the southern access via The Avenue, would, by reason of the location and the scale, massing and height of the building, represent an overdevelopment of the site which would be out of character with and have an unacceptable impact on, the surrounding locality and would fail to make a positive contribution within the street scene, contrary to policy EN1 (a) of the Council’s Core Strategy and Policies DPD 2009.’ Crest Nicholson have 6 months to appeal this decision.
