Some flats at former nightclub ‘too small’
ONE of Swansea’s more offbeat nightclubs won’t be turned into 11 flats because two of them would be too small and lack privacy, a planning inspector has said.
The former Mozart’s, on Walter Road, used to lure many a reveller on their way back from the city centre to the suburbs for a nightcap or three.
The decor at the quirky club was dated and the sound system wasn’t
world beating, but it had a loyal following.
Swansea Council turned down a planning application to convert the property, which includes offices, into 11 one and two-bed flats last year but the developer – Intergalactic Property Holdings Ltd – appealed.
The appeal has now been dismissed by Welsh Government- appointed planning inspector Richard Jenkins.
The principal matters of dispute, he said, were whether the scheme would provide acceptable living conditions for future occupiers, and its effect on pedestrian and road safety.
Mr Jenkins said the living space for two lower ground floor flats was “significantly short” of the guidance, although he noted that the guidance did not strictly relate to studio flats.
He added that the lack of any external areas serving these two flats, and the fact that they would look out onto parking spaces, exacerbated the concerns.
He also said that the development, which is in
Ffynone and Uplands Conservation Area, would create a number of rooms looking out onto the next door property.
“Given the short distance between these windows and the adjacent property, I concur with the council’s view that such a lack of outlook would add to the overall concerns in respect of inadequate living conditions,” said his report.
Intergalactic Property Holdings had proposed 11 parking spaces at the rear, and a new access by creating an opening in a stone wall running along the side of the property.
To ensure adequate visibility, the council wanted the stone wall reduced to a maximum height of one metre. The developer contended that this could be done without planning permission, but Mr Jenkins said a planning application would be preferable. His decision report noted the positive benefits of the scheme, notwithstanding his dismissal of the appeal.
After the 11-flat scheme was turned down by the council last year, Intergalactic Property Holdings submitted a pre-application enquiry for a nine-flat development.
This pre-application enquiry omits the side access and the two lower ground floor studio flats, which have been substituted with five parking spaces.
A council place-making and heritage adviser who has assessed the nine-flat proposal said it was “broadly supported”, subject to further details of materials and other matters at the full application stage.