Approval in principle for a residential development of sixteen plots, with roads sewers and access via Cooil Avenue,

Refusal Reasons

• ✗The proposed estate would take its access off a sub-standard unadopted street. Cooil Avenue is insufficiently wide in terms of both carriageway and footways and is deteriorating due to lack of maintenance. Also its junction with Shore Road/Station Road offers inadequate visibility for drivers of emerging vehicles. As such the estate road would not be able to be adopted due to the status of Cooil Avenue and the estate could not be satisfactorily serviced in terms of the road network.
• ✗Notwithstanding the above, the Planning Committee is not satisfied that the land available is capable of accommodating sixteen plots together with the requisite open space without the layout being cramped and resulting in an overdeveloped environment. The proposal includes an area of Public Open Space which is around 225 square metres in size. Emerging policy, contained within the draft Island Strategic Plan (which is the only specific guidance on the Island on such matters) suggests that the development of sixteen two or three bedroomed properties should be accompanied by between 1024 and 1536 square metres of amenity space. The illustrative layout is therefore unacceptable and the deficiency in the provision of amenity space further supports the contention that the site is not of sufficient size to satisfactorily accommodate sixteen dwellings and the requisite amenities.