SARG objects to ‘abominable’ plan for seven flats

RESIDENTS branded a planning application for seven flats in Loughborough as “disgusting” “abominable” and “completely out of character for our area” at the latest SARG meeting.

SARG (Storer and Ashby Residents Group) met on Tuesday, July 18 and as part of its bi-monthly meetings the latest planning applications were discussed by residents.

Members discussed the application for seven flats at 5 Cumberland Road, Loughborough, and unanimously objected to the amended application.

The first application was submitted in May last year, and the plan was to originally build nine flats at the address.

This was then changed in September last year to a proposal for seven flats after the initial plan was recommended for refusal by planning officers at Charnwood Borough Council.

The third amended application by Mr Andrew Philpott of Holt Drive, Loughborough was submitted on Tuesday, July 11, and a decision is yet to be made by planning officers on whether the build will go ahead.

Residents said that they strongly objected to the building of the flats, and that the design was “disgusting” “out of character” and “horrid”.

One resident at the meeting said: “they would look out of place anywhere in Loughborough, this is a conservation area and the design is nothing like the rest of the area at all.”

The third amended plan had seen changes to the brickwork and design of the flats.

Residents felt that the application bore no resemblance to the previous version and should have been considered as a new application.

SARG members also objected on the grounds of a lack of car parking spaces for tenants, and felt that the application should have a condition preventing students from living in the house.

In an objection letter sent to Charnwood Borough Council after the meeting a SARG spokesperson said: “The community suffers great imbalance. A majority of properties are student-occupied and by adding a “no student” condition any worsening of this imbalance can be minimised.”

At the meeting a spokesperson for the group said: “We have objected in the past to these flats being built and we will be doing the same again.

“We are realistic in recognising that there is a demand for housing in the area, but this design isn’t in keeping with the local area at all, and we just wish developers would bear this in mind when they are building in residential areas.

“It neither preserves or enhances the area at all.”

The application number is P/16/1053/2