Plans to knock down a historic cottage on the edge of Bath and build two “unashamedly modern” houses in its place have been given the go-ahead.
It marks the end of an almost three-year planning battle over Waterworks Cottage, on Charlcombe Way.
The cottage’s architect owners, Jeremy and Sarah Flavell, secured the right to knock down the cottage without the council’s approval in 2022.
But their attempts to build “unashamedly modern” houses on the site once the cottage has been knocked down have been repeatedly held up at the planning permission phase.
A final decision had been expected when the plans came before Bath and North East Somerset Council’s planning committee last month, but councillors voted to postpone their decision while they went on a site visit to see the cottage for themselves.
Meeting again after the visit last Wednesday, 26th July, the committee voted to grant planning permission and allow the homes to be built.
Chris Parkin, who lives next to the cottage, had urged them to refuse the application.
He said: “The current proposal constitutes overdevelopment that will cause harm to the character and appearance of the area.”
He added that the two houses proposed on the site, which sits right on the edge of Bath, as the city transitions to countryside, would have a volume five times that of the house.
But the planning agent for the Flavells, Tom Rocke, insisted that overdevelopment concerns had been addressed.
He said: “The scheme has been reduced from three to two dwellings. Both dwellings have been substantially reduced in size, equating to a 23 per cent reduction in built footprint.”
He added that there would only now be one house on the upper part of the site and it had been reduced in height and was only a metre higher than the current roof of the cottage.
He continued that the new homes would have highly energy-efficient “Passivhaus” status.
Councillor Ian Halsall said: “This is a very emotive application. There’s a long history. I know it has generated a lot of concern among local residents.”
But he said he felt the plans were sufficiently set back from neighbours’ properties and set down from the road.
Councillor Shaun Hughes said: “We are instructed that we should consider this application as if the building is not there, it clearly is there. And the photographs and site visit show that it is there. And, as it is still there, it is still a non-designated heritage asset.”
Council officers said the committee could consider the current cottage, but that the Flavells already had permission to demolish the cottage and this could not be stopped.
Councillor Tim Warren said: “The reality is, its got permission to be knocked down. It will probably be knocked down anyway. It’s just a case of what gets put up instead of it.
“I think, when you look at it in black and white, it’s all in policy.”
But councillor Eleanor Jackson was unhappy with the “blocky” modern design, and said: “I would have felt much more comfortable with a building that referenced the historic past if the building can’t be satisfactorily restored.”
She proposed rejecting the proposal, seconded by Councillor Ruth Malloy, but the committee voted down the motion.
The committee then voted in favour of granting planning permission for the development.
The decision marks the end of a long planning battle, which started in 2020 when the original plans to build three four-bedroom homes on the site were first submitted.
The cottage is believed to have been built in the mid-nineteenth century and housed people who worked at the nearby waterworks.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter