One notable entry in this week’s planning list is the long-anticipated redevelopment of the West Street / Park Road South corner plot. Sold earlier this year for £2,500,000, you might have spotted our reference to it in this post from March. What is being proposed in the current planning application is rather less ambitious than we thought then, with Dominos surviving intact between two blocks of development above the shops along Park Road South, West Street and Brockhampton Lane.
As drawn in this outline planning application, the blocks are relatively inoffensive but uninspired two-storey upward extensions.
“The Applicant considers the Park Road South, West Street and Brockhampton Lane frontages to be the principal elevations of the proposed development. These main frontages will be treated with red facing brickwork at second floor level to reflect the character of the vast majority of the existing first floor level, and at third floor level will be treated with a grey zinc cladding to read as a mansard roof which will have the effect of completing the building so that it terminates with a ‘roof’. The mansard roof with grey zinc cladding will make the proposed built form less dominant within this prominent Town Centre location. The simple treatment of the proposed extensions reflects the character of the area by relying on the prevailing facing material (red brick), and will greatly enhance the appearance of the existing building.”
[Quote from the Planning Statement]
Although the applicant may refer to the top storey as ‘a mansard roof’, that interpretation is debatable. Visually, it resembles little more than a row of shipping containers stacked atop the third storey.
“The proposals involve an upward extension of the existing buildings on site, creating new second and third floors, plus the provision of new refuse and cycle storage facilities. There will be a total of 24 new apartments with four two bedroom units and twenty one bedroom units.”
“The Property features a vehicular access of Brockhampton Lane which serves a car park comprising approximately 48 parking spaces. There is a single storey outbuilding in the centre of the car park which is not impacted by the proposed development.”
However, while the ‘approximately 48 parking spaces’ can be seen in the aerial view above, they’re all currently allocated to staff from the various retail units which form the ground floor of the buildings, and used by the pizza delivery collection point at the back of Domino’s.
“The proposal to add 26 residential [units] to the Town Centre will have a positive economic impact on existing businesses in the Town Centre by virtue of adding up to 43 potential consumers (based on the bedspaces available) to the Town Centre. The proposed development will not result in the loss of any parking spaces for the existing commercial uses located at the Site, this is because of the residential apartments themselves do not require parking spaces due to their location within the Town Centre.”
The Transport Statement submitted in support of the application confirms that:
“… the proposed car-free residential development will not have adverse impact on highway safety or the local transport network. The car-free approach is supported by local planning guidance for developments in Havant Town Centre.
In light of the town centre location and excellent access to public transport and local amenities, car free development is proposed. Sufficient cycle parking spaces are provided to promote active travel, with 30 long-stay spaces provided in a dedicated, covered and secured bike store on ground floor, and six short-stay spaces in the form of ‘Sheffield’ hoops.”
The ‘car-free’ intention is highly commendable, however whether or not the “43 potential consumers” will buy into it or be encouraged to use bicycles in all seasons remains to be seen. The council will be happy to tick another 24 housing units off their list, but we are likely to see increased pressure on the council to introduce a properly considered scheme for residents’ parking across the town streets, a subject that we’ve commented on before.
An important note
If you intend to comment on this planning application, take this link to the planning site but do so before 30 July, on which date the ability to comment on planning applications will be restricted – see this previous HCS post.
On one small point of accuracy, we do remain slightly confused by the comment at section 2.2 of the Transport Statement that there is a bank ‘on site’. As far as we recall, the HSBC branch moved out some years ago to be replaced by Domino’s.
Havant Civic Society 