There are plans to complete a row of houses in an Oldfield Park street that were never built because the original developers reportedly “ran out of money”.
The property on the corner of First Avenue | Image © Google Street View / Google 2024
An outline planning permission application has been lodged with Bath & North East Somerset Council to build a terrace of four houses following the demolition of the property known as St Malo, on the corner of First Avenue and Oldfield Lane.
St Malo is a single-storey bungalow which is said to date from the late 1930s or early 1940s.
It is opposite St John’s Primary School and has a double garage, parking area and a garden to the rear.
There is an electricity substation in the rear garden, which is accessed from Oldfield Lane.
A total of five off-street parking spaces are proposed, one per home plus a visitor space.
Parking would be accessed off Oldfield Lane, which the application says would reflect the strong character within the Oldfield Park area.
Keeping the copper beech tree that is within the front garden would “severely restrict the ability for the site to be redeveloped”, says the application.
An assessment concludes that it is not considered worthy of retention or to be made the subject of a Tree Preservation Order.
A statement prepared by Tadman Planning Consultants in support of the application says: “The history of the site is that the original developers of First Avenue had planned terraced houses on the site of St Malo, however they ran out of money, leaving the plot vacant until the bungalow was constructed some years later.
“The proposal would therefore complete the terrace as it was original planned.”
The application says the development will not have a harmful impact on neighbours by way of overlooking and/or an overbearing impact.
The planning reference is 24/04180/OUT. The deadline for comments is 17th December.
Some comments of objection have already been posted on the planning portal.
They include: “This area is already overpopulated and congested, especially with the construction of the new care home. This will create more traffic coming and going and more cars causing danger to the local school and church.”
Another local says: “The four properties would overpower the site, reduce green space and off-road parking. It would cause a detrimental impact on the vista of the surroundings and would overlook the children’s school opposite.
“It would increase pressure on parking in the area and potentially push cars into the nearby Moorlands currently free parking zone.
“Two properties with suitable off-road parking and green space would be better suited to the site and surrounding area.”
