Protesters fuming at ‘monstrous’ block of flats plan
PROPOSAL FOR GREEN SPACE AT JUNCTION IN WOODVILLE
CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a new block of flats have made neighbours so angry they have launched a petition against it.
Residents of Sun Street and High Street, Woodville, are protesting against proposals for seven flats on the prominent corner of former advertising land.
They say the block will be overbearing and cause further parking problems.
If approved by South Derbyshire District Council, there will be just three parking spaces for disabled people.
And residents claim that will mean more cars parked on the streets nearby.
Melissa Cotton, 29, who set up the petition, has seen it signed by 50 people in three days.
Miss Cotton, who lives with parents Ivan, 72, and Anne, 69, in High Street, said their home would be directly behind the new flats. She said: “My father recently had two heart attacks and is now on dialysis, so his health cannot take this kind of stress.
“We got a letter through the post about this application and we went online to have a look.
“Our house will be situated directly behind this ... new build. We would have no privacy. It would be three storeys high.
“It will stick out like a sore thumb, not being like any other houses in the area.
“With the parking, it is for three disabled spaces, but if none of the people living in the flats are disabled, then it could lead to potentially 10 to 14 more vehicles parking on the street. The street will become an overflow.
“Sun Street is already a nightmare road, with Montrecon HGV trailer park needing to use this road for access.
“It will cause more daily delays and obstructions, not to mention if the new residents go to neighbouring streets to find parking, they will add to congestion and traffic, which is already bad in the area.
“I’m trying everything possible to find a solution to stop this build going ahead.
“The plans will reduce privacy for residents around it. All the residents in High Street behind the build will have to look at nothing but the back of this building.”
The 520-square-metre patch of land has been empty for decades, having previously held large advertising boards.
However, in 2019, outdoor advertising company Jcdecaux sold the lot at auction with a guide price of between £18,000 and £20,000, claiming it had “development potential”.
The applicants have been contacted for comment through their agents, AK Innovative Design Solutions.
The application includes four twobed and three one-bed apartments, with an open kitchen lounge area, and states there is a shortage of housing in the area.
A report submitted alongside the proposal said the current street scene was “one of the main causes of the area being less active than what it once was, therefore causing a large number of properties to become vacant compared to other change of uses that have been done”.
The applicants say they wish to enhance the image of area with their proposal, which, they say, would “encourage investment and renovation work to take place on the other vacant properties in the local area.”
The petition can be found online at change.org.
A decision on whether to allow the flats to be built is due in the next few months.