15/00897/FUL — Shrewsbury Town Council

Address	Proposal	Shrewsbury Town Council Decision
112 London Road Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 6PP	Erection of 2 no. dwellings	Objection
Application Date:

Application Notes:
This application has caused significant unrest and anger of local residents and members of the Town Council are very understanding of their sentiment. This seems to be a perfect example of trying to fit a pint into a half-pint pot. It appears the applicant purely wants to achieve the maximum amount of return on his investment and has no regard for the impact these two properties will have on local residents’ enjoyment and privacy of their own space; nor does the applicant have any appreciation of the local vernacular or the quality of trees are within the area. The Town Council therefore objects on the following grounds: - The existing planning permission allowed for two houses with a scale and form which were relatively in keeping with the traditional 1940’s properties that this part of London Road is famous for. It provides a strong character to the area. The proposed properties are totally at odds with the vernacular in terms of size, height, scale and overall mass and will create an imposing effect on all the other properties around. - The design of the properties is such that public enjoyment of the open space surrounding is not from the garden itself but from one of the many walk-on balconies to be constructed. This will severely affect the rights to privacy that local residents have and their enjoyment of their own personal spaces will be severely compromised. - This development provides no valuable amenity space in comparison to the size and scale of the buildings. Their gardens will in effect be no bigger than the floor plate of their buildings. This will clearly impact on the quality of life of those inhabitants. - To the boundary hedge are three very fine Copper Beech trees which are protected by Tree Preservation Orders. These trees are very important to their setting as they are fundamental to providing valuable landscape qualities, habitat for wildlife and contribute considerably to the ecological welfare of the area. By their nature, Copper Beech Trees require a good overall canopy and very careful tree management. There is the likelihood that due to the imposing nature of these trees to such a small garden space for these plots that there will be a temptation to radically prune back to seek more light. Additionally, the size of the trees are such that it is likely that development of these two properties might begin to encroach on the root zone of these trees causing unwelcome distress. Members are extremely disappointed that despite the fact the building is nearer the trees than previously there is no mention of any tree reports detailing any mitigating works.