Fresh bid to knock down cottage at heart of row
Bath’s much-loved Waterworks Cottage is facing demolition for the fourth time, in the latest instalment of a “tedious” planning row.
The little house was built in the 1850s and these days it is owned by Jeremy and Sarah Flavell – a Bath couple with an architectural design business. It is considered by many to be an important part of Bath’s industrial history and is also adored by walkers who frequent the Charlcombe Valley. It also happens to be on the migration route of the famous Charlcombe toads.
This is the third time Mr and Mrs Flavell have applied to demolish the house, although their 2020 plans to build three homes on the site would also have meant knocking it down. These proposals sparked a fierce backlash and a planning row that has been raging for nearly two years.
The last demolition notice, submitted in June, was rejected by the local authority in July and the council officer wrote that “insufficient detail” had been given on how protected species, including bats, would be protected during the works.
“It is therefore considered that the proposals are contrary to the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017,” the report concluded. .
Before that application, Mr and Mrs Flavell had submitted one in May, but that was also refused. However, their intention has not always been one of simple demolition.
A proposal for three four-bedroom homes on the site, off Charlcombe Way, was submitted to the council in November 2020. At the time, more than 100 objections were lodged. They raised concerns about traffic, the migration of the Charlcombe toads, and the cottage’s historical value as a 19th-century building for staff at the old waterworks.
In February 2021, Mr and Mrs Flavell revised their application to preserve the home in an extended state, while building two more dwellings on the site. This scheme was rejected as “cramped and contrived” by the council in August 2021. In January this year, the Flavells appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. Their appeal was thrown out, but it was also ruled that the cottage did not meet the requirements to become a nationally listed heritage asset, which would have protected it from development for several years. Locally, it has been a non-designated heritage asset since 2017.
Since the failed appeal, there have been three applications to simply demolish Waterworks Cottage. The most recent one can be viewed on the council website at https://bit. ly/3dzekto and is out for consultation until September 5, 2022.
In response to the council’s concerns about bats, this latest application has argued: “The updated ecological assessment accompanying the current application confirms that there is no evidence of roosting bats in the building, and therefore the council’s concerns regarding its inability to discharge its duty under Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations, are now resolved.”
So far, there have been six comments on the application – all of them objections. One woman wrote: “This is becoming tedious. Many people have raised strong objections to this proposal on so many valid grounds and yet your applicants seem to have made no attempt to modify their plans to address any of the concerns raised.
“It seems to make a mockery of the notion of ‘sensitivity to the rare and beautiful surroundings.”
Another wrote: “I’m objecting for the third time to this proposed demolition and am wondering how many times we need to do so. The Waterworks cottage is part of the area’s local history.”