Developer loses appeal to build six houses at Lower Swainswick

An appeal lodged by a developer after Bath & North East Somerset Council failed to make a decision on plans for six detached houses at Lower Swainswick has been dismissed.

The application for land at Hicks Field, between 92 and 106 London Road West, was submitted by the Bristol-based Foxhills Group Ltd back in July 2024.

Access was proposed from the private road which goes to Avon Rugby Football Club and six other houses which have already been built on the site of a former nursery.

The scheme involved the loss of a “substantial” number of trees and shrubs, including several large sycamores on the steep embankment along the northern boundary.

However, the developer said most of the trees on the boundaries would be retained, with additional tree and scrub planting proposed, along with a wildflower meadow.

The council’s target decision date was August 2025 after a number of mutually agreed extensions. But that date came and went, so Foxhills Group Ltd lodged an appeal.

Now a planning inspector appointed by the Secretary of State has dismissed the appeal and refused planning permission, although he acknowledged there would be economic benefits and the scheme would deliver new homes where there is an identified shortfall of housing land.

He said the council’s main concerns were the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, particularly its location within the World Heritage Site and Bath Conservation Area; the effect on green infrastructure; the risk of flooding; the mix of housing and excessive level of car parking; and the effect on biodiversity.

The inspector agreed that the scheme would cause harm to the significance of both the Bath Conservation Area and the City of Bath World Heritage Site. He also said that the development would likely increase flood risk elsewhere.

He said: “The scheme would result in the addition of six dwellings into the site, necessitating the loss of a significant number of trees. This would erode the positive contribution that the site, and the trees within it, currently make to the character and appearance of the area and diminish its verdant appearance.”

Of the new raised access road that would be needed, on top of a retained structure that would be approximately three metres in height, the inspector said: “While not visible from the road to the north, this would be a stark feature in views from the rugby field and public right of way to the south.

“It would be clearly visible as a highly engineered intervention into a currently verdant and leafy site, harmfully eroding the contribution the site makes as a transitional site between built development and open land.”

Landscaping would not sufficiently soften its appearance sufficiently, he said.

His report also said there would be no protection or enhancement of the existing green infrastructure, despite the retention of some trees. It was also not clear how the scheme would prevent a net loss of biodiversity.

The inspector felt the choice of materials for the houses did not reflect the character of the area and that the layout would result in little spacing between the properties, giving a “distinctly urban appearance”.

He also said that only four-bed detached properties were proposed, so the development would not support mixed and inclusive communities, while the total of 16 proposed parking spaces was “unacceptably in excess” of the council’s maximum standard.