Campaigners celebrate victory after flats scheme thrown out

After a campaign by residents which resulted in around 2,000 letters of objection being submitted to the authority’s planning department, members rejected proposals which would have seen a large detached property at 135 Dore Road being demolished and 14 new apartments being built in its place.

Chairman of the planning board, Coun Alan Law, said: “It’s totally out of character and I really don’t like it at all.

“There’s no way it would be right and proper in this area.”

Martin Flowers, managing director of Metropolitan Homes, spoke on behalf of the applicant and said the scheme would be similar to an existing luxury apartments complex, “Braemore”, in Ecclesall.

He said: “Whilst I acknowledge that the results of the campaign, run by two neighbours, has been substantial, I can’t understand why this modest and highly-attractive scheme has resulted in so many people signing up.”

Mr Flowers said apartments at Braemore had been taken by a “wide range of purchasers”, especially retired people, who wanted an “easily maintained and safe place to live”.

He added that the apartments would look like “two grand houses, not too far from the very large houses seen on Dore Road”.

However, councillors followed the recommendations of planning officials and unanimously rejected the application.

Despite this, building works will still go ahead on the site as, at the same meeting yesterday, members voted by six to four to approve alternative plans for the site.

Councillors went with the recommendations of planning officers and approved a development of eight new three- and four-bedroom detached homes.

As a previous planning application for eight homes had been granted but expired last month, and a further application for six homes is still live, councillors said that if they were to turn down the application than their decision could well be overturned on appeal – incurring substantial costs for the authority.

Objectors to the houses plan had raised concerns including possible traffic congestion, flooding, overlooking and overdevelopment.

Coun Colin Ross spoke against both planning applications at yesterday’s meeting.

He told members: “The report you have before you goes through various points raising objection to the scheme and, in the end, comes to the balanced conclusion that it is acceptable.

“When you add all of these together, there is a cumulative effect which makes the overall scheme unacceptable.

“There are more than enough reasons for you to reject the eight-house scheme. Everything I have said about the eight houses can be multiplied for the apartments, which are totally out of character with the area and totally overbearing.

“It’s almost an application that shouldn’t even be considered by the committee, it’s so far away from what would be acceptable.”

Another objector, who lives next to the application site, told the meeting: “It’s like trying to put a quart into a pint pot here.”

Coun Ian Auckland, who voted against the plans for eight houses, said: “I do think it’s out of character and I do think it’s over-dense.”

However, six councillors voted in favour of the plans, meaning that 135 Dore Road now has two “live” planning applications – one for eight new homes, and one for six. The latter is set to expire in December.

Coun Law said: “I think this is an application to renew something and it’s really as simple as that.

“I am convinced that if we refuse it and it went to appeal we would lose, we’d pay a lot of compensation and we’d lose some of the conditions we have attached.”