Housing plans for hospital rejected again

Plans for housing at St Martin’s Hospital in Bath have been thrown out for a third time.

Colburn Homes hoped to address previous concerns about the lack of parking or tree planting, the “nondescript” design and the impact on the Grade Ii-listed Chapel of St Martin.

It scaled back its proposals, swapped the eight townhouses for the same number of flats and improved the parking arrangement to provide a dozen spaces.

Colburn Homes said in its application: “This proposal strikes the right balance between making best use of previously developed land whilst respecting the setting of heritage assets.”

Bath and North East Somerset Council’s conservation officer remained concerned about the impact on the chapel, while Bath Preservation Trust maintained its opposition to the principle of development.

Nine residents objected, saying the developer had failed to overcome past reasons for refusal.

Planning officers agreed and said the building would be a dominant and incongruous feature that would harm the chapel setting. Recommending refusal, they said: “Whilst some planning benefits weigh in favour of the development, considerable weight must be given to the preservation of the designated heritage assets. For these reasons, the public benefits are not considered to be of a scale to outweigh the harm identified.”

Elsewhere on the St Martin’s Hospital campus, changes to the council’s Local Plan could see three historic buildings Kempthorne House, Midford House and Ash House - converted and a Portakabin redeveloped to deliver 50 properties, as they are expected to be deemed surplus to requirements.