PLANS for a new house have gone in for an area of surplus land at a city college.
The application is for a four-bed house at Peter Symonds College in Bereweeke Way, Winchester.
This comes two years after a scheme at the same location, for three houses, was refused by Winchester City Council and dismissed on appeal.
The plans, which don't name an applicant, had received no public comments in support or objection by Sunday, April 21.
The planning statement set out the changes made as a result of the previous refusal. It said: “The main reason for dismissal related to the loss of part of a designated Protected Open Area at the eastern end of the site, and that ball stop netting required to protect the new dwellings would result in harm to the character and appearance of the appeal site and surrounding area.
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“This application therefore comprises an amended scheme that sees a reduction in the site area so that development would not occur on any part of the designated Protected Open Area. This also negates the need for ball stop netting to be erected as there would be no dwellings immediately adjacent to the college sports ground.
“The proposal occupies a small piece of land that sits adjacent to open space and sports pitches of Peter Symonds College. This parcel of land does not form part of the sports pitch and is surplus to the college’s requirements.”
Winchester City Council's urban design officer raised no objection, but criticised the design. They said: “It is a shame to see a conventional design proposed on greenfield land. The applicant should be urged to take an approach to architecture that adopts the latest thinking in sustainable design. To this end, the building’s design would be led by matters such as solar orientation, air tightness, glazing ratios, environmentally friendly materials, sustainable construction methods, and greener energy technologies, rather than traditionalism.
“There is a real opportunity here to deliver a building up to and even exceeding Passivhaus standards. Such an aspiration would be apt for greenfield development and in line with the spirit of local and central government policies, now and into the future.”
In response Ruth Dovey, of developer Solve Planning, acting as agent for the application, said: “The traditional design of the dwelling is in keeping with the character and appearance of the area and in accordance with the council’s design policies, as concluded at the time of the previous application and appeal. In terms of sustainability, a sustainability and energy statement accompanies the application that demonstrates that the proposal accords with the council’s policies on sustainability. Any request for the scheme to provide above this would not be reasonable.”
For more details about the application, search 24/00444/FUL on Winchester City Council's online planning portal.
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