Raunds retirement flats plan rejected at appeal
Plans to build 36 new retirement apartments in Raunds won't go ahead after the planning inspectorate ruled that the complex would have an ‘adverse effect’ on the area.
Applicant Dipak Patel, of Darsdale Care Home Ltd, put forward proposals to North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) to build 36 flats for over-55s off Chelveston Road in Raunds.
The project would have seen a new apartment complex built on land by the former Darsdale Home, which is now the Evergreen Care Home.
Mr Patel said the project would create ‘high-quality apartments’ and ‘an inclusive and sustainable community for the future’.
The council received objections at the time from neighbours who said they would be overlooked and raised concerns about amenity space being taken away from residents of the nearby home.
An appeal was lodged in September last year after NNC failed to issue a decision on the plans in time.
Planning inspector Chris Baxter said that the three-storey building would be ‘jarring’ and appear as a dominant structure next to other residential properties in the immediate area, resulting in the loss of light to properties to the south.
The report continued: “There would be windows into habitable rooms and balconies that would overlook existing properties and their private garden areas.
"Due to the position and proximity of these windows and balconies, in relation to neighbouring dwellings, there would be overlooking issues that would result in the loss of privacy to occupiers.”
It also found that there would be inadequate parking spaces, which could lead to ‘inconsiderate parking of vehicles’ and further concerns around the width of the access road into the site.
The inspector concluded that the benefits of the scheme ‘would not outweigh the significant harm I have identified regarding the effect on the character and appearance of the area, the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers and highway safety’ and dismissed the appeal, refusing planning permission.
A separate application against NNC for an award of costs, which refers to the planning application being validated in October 2021 and still being with the council years later, was also refused.