Homes to be flattened in plan for upmarket flats

A half-a-million-pound house and 19th century apartment block in one of Canterbury’s most prestigious streets could be bulldozed to make way for 10 flats.

Developers want to demolish the buildings in the Ethelbert Road conservation area, where the average property fetches close to £750,000.

In their place, near the junction with Old Dover Road, would be 10 flats made to look like three large homes. On the site now is a 1960s four-bedroom house and a separate four-storey property built in the late 19th century and converted to six flats in 1990.

The house was bought for £380,000 in 2011 and is now valued at upwards of £500,000.

Developer Greenham Properties says the current buildings are out-of-keeping with the street, which is lined with grand Victorian and Edwardian houses.

In an application to Canterbury council, it says: “The new build will be designed in such a way to blend in with the existing dwellings along Ethelbert Road.

“Therefore, the proposal has been designed in such a way as to take design cues from the existing properties by way of appearance, detailing and mass and form.

“This allows the building to integrate into this historic and well-defined road and creates an improved and more suitable transition.

“In keeping with the design of properties in the area, the design includes steep pitched gables, bay windows, rolled lead flat roofs and black guttering.

“The proposed development has used the buildings along Ethelbert Road as inspiration taking cues from their traditional elements.”

The proposal also includes 10 on-site parking spaces.

To comment visit www.canterbury.gov.uk/planning and search for CA//17/02016.

What do you think? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk or write to Gazette House, 5-8 Boorman Way, Wraik Hill, Whitstable, CT5 3SE.

A house and a block of flats could be bulldozed to make way for new flats, right