Objectors say common sense has prevailed as home on almshouses gardens is thrown out
Up in ‘alms’ over plan to build house
A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build a home on war memorial land was thrown out after attracting more than 80 objections from angry residents.
The impact on nearby families and a loss of trees were just some of the reasons planning chiefs decided to refuse a planning application to build a home on the gardens of the four Sunnyside Almshouses in Newton Solney.
One objector, Karen Makin Wall, said: “Common sense prevailed here. It was always hard to believe anyone would have the audacity to try and build on a registered war memorial and take away the garden of elderly almshouse residents.”
A private buyer had offered to fund a two-bed detached home on the site’s large gardens, and the application was submitted by The Percy William Ratcliff Cottages Trust.
The trust said the cash would be of “enormous benefit” to ensure the longevity of the trust as it could not afford to build any additional property for itself.
However, residents said the elderly and vulnerable people [living in the existing almshouses] would look out of their bedroom window and see the boundary wall instead of their garden.
If it went ahead, one resident said it would have to be renamed “Darkside instead of Sunnyside”.
Councillors at South Derbyshire District Council’s planning committee refused the application due to a loss of trees, adverse impact on amenity of existing residents, and character and appearance of the area which includes the war memorial and conservation area.
They added there was a lack overriding beneficial impacts and loss of green space/landscaping. The council is due to proceed with Tree Preservation Orders on the holly and juniper trees at this location, it said. The original trust was set up on January 1, 1951, and was designed to provide accommodation for the poor who have resided in the parish of Newton Solney for no less than five years. Over the years, different people have lived in the bungalows.
Since then, there have been no sizeable bequests to the trust and it is doubtful that any would be forthcoming in the immediate future, the trust previously said.
It was always hard to believe the audacity to try...and take away the garden of elderly almshouse residents. Karen Makin Wall