The Council’s Development Control Committee has approved the planning application for 204 houses on the former MoD site at Warminster Road. The project will include two access points from Warminster Road, open spaces and landscaping, a pumping station and associated engineering works. There is also a provision of land for expansion of Bathwick St Mary Primary School, which is immediately adajcent to the site.

Commenting, Cllr David Martin said “there were a number of detailed objections to the scheme from local residents and from other consultees, regarding issues such as overlooking nearby properties and the layout and design features. At the Committee meeting I expressed concerns about these issues. However, the Committee accepted the planning officer’s recommendation to permit the development, which is likely to proceed fairly swiftly”.

Tesco on Bathwick Hill have applied to BathNES Council to change their permitted opening hours.

When the shop was granted planning permission against the wishes of the council in 2007, it was permitted to open between 8am and 9pm. The application seeks to vary that condition, allowing the shop to open between 6am and midnight.

The application can be viewed online, and members of the public can comment until Friday 20th February.

The developer of the former MoD offices on Warminster Road has requested that consideration of their application by the BathNES planning committee be delayed again to Wednesday 11th February.

However, they have also submitted a new application for converting the existing buildings to flats. The proposal, which is currently open for consultation, is for 154 dwellings within the eight single story office blocks currently on the site. If permission were granted to the conversion, which would not result in a significant change to the appearance of the site, then it may establish the principal that 154 units could be built on the site.

Your local Liberal Democrat councillors remain of the view that this is a prestige site which demands a high standard of urban design, sensitivity to the local area and consideration for its visual and environmental impact.

A Planning Inspector has decided not to allow three houses to be built at 21 Woodland. The appeal against the refusal of BathNES Council’s planning committee is dismissed.

The application, 14/01016/FUL, was to build a terrace of three houses on the site of a single chalet-bungalow at the eastern end of the Woodland Grove cul-de-sac. The Inspector agreed with the planning committee that the buildings would be harmful to the conservation area.

One of the most important strategic business issues for the Council in future years is setting the most appropriate planning requirements.  To do this, the Council is currently consulting on the options for key development sites and the planning policy framework in B&NES.  The Placemaking Plan, together with the recently adopted Core Strategy, will be used as the basis for determining planning applications over the next 15 years.  The Options document outlines various alternatives and comments are invited from the public in order to inform the next stage of the Placemaking Plan.  The Plan is available to download from the Council website via this link.  Please note that this is a large document (12.6 MB). The consultation runs until the end of January 2015.

The Plan includes sections on key sites in the city, including the University campus on Claverton Down.  Claire Jackson said “I hope that local people will take the opportunity to look at this document, large though it is, and to provide their comments on the options being put forward by the Council”.

The application to build 206 new homes on the Warminster Road MoD site will no longer be heard at this month’s Development Control committee. The developer has asked that it be deferred until a later meeting.

Bathwick Liberal Democrat councillor David Martin has pursuaded the committee chair that the decision should be taken by the Development Control committee, so that members of the public can present their views and see the debate. 40 letters of objection to the scheme have been received by the council, including from Bathampton Parish Council, Bath Preservation Trust and from Transition Bath.

Council planning officers are recommending that the application be refused; the urban design, heritage, landscape, arboricultural, housing and parks officers objected to the proposals, as did the Environment Agency and English Heritage. The report fails the application on the grounds of urban design, harm to the conservation area and world heritage site, loss of trees, inadequate drainage, impact on neighbouring homes and failure to provide a suitable housing mix.

The developers of the former MoD site at Warminster Road have submitted a number of further amendments to their original plans.

They are now proposing to build a total of 206 dwellings in a mixture of different types and styles of houses and flats. There are also revised landscape and play area schemes, and there will be provision of 40% affordable housing on the site. An area is also allocated for educational purposes for an enlarged school site adjacent to Bathwick St Mary Primary School. Details of the amended application can be seen on the Council’s planning webpages, and the public is invited to make their further comments and observations on the plans. Access the website by clicking planning, and use the reference number 14/02272/EFUL. A decision from the Council about the application is due in the coming weeks.

Developers of the Warminster Road MoD site have applied for planning permission to build 189 homes on the site; you can view and comment on the application at the Council website.

The application is for 2-3 story houses and flats, with 35% classed as affordable. The northern edge of the site, along the canal frontage and footpath, will be left undeveloped. The two access roads are to be retained, creating a double cul-de-sac development. The proposed density is 42 dwellings per hectare, and the houses will be built to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, which is the minimum standard permitted by council policy.

A small corner of the MoD site on the boundary next to the school has been excluded from the development. This 0.19ha (0.47 acre) plot would be given to BathNES Council as the applicant’s contribution to school provision.

If you want to comment on the proposals, you can do so here; your comments must be received by 18 July 2014. The Council is due to make a decision before the end of September; a proposal of this scale is likely to be determined by the Development Control committee.

Two planning applications have been made this week which may be of interest to residents of The Avenue at North Road. One application seeks to demolish Norwood Dene, at the western end of The Avenue, and replace it with three houses. The second, 100m away at Woodlands on North Road, is to change the use from residential to offices for the University.

The Norwood Dene application is by developer Ashford Homes. They propose two houses facing the road, with a third larger home behind.  Consultation is open until 25th June; if you want to comment on the scheme you can do so here.

The Woodlands application is to change the use of the building from a house to offices. The University of Bath has previously let the building for residential use. There are no physical changes requiring planning or listed building consent proposed. Consultation is open until 20th June; if you want to comment on the scheme you can do so here.

– Cllr Nicholas Coombes is no longer able to comment on planning matters as he works for the Planning Inspectorate.