A CONTROVERSIAL bid to knock down lock up garages in Knowle for two
detached homes does not present access problems but should be redesigned, a
planning officer has said.
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A Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council has recommended
councillors approve the access to the planned homes at Copt Heath Croft on
Wednesday.
Fell Estates Ltd has proposed using the existing access at
Copt Heath Croft for the homes.
Each home would have two parking spaces but seven objected
with concerns parked cars in the street may create access problems for
vehicles, including emergencies.
One said: “Parking in the Croft already at a high premium.
Development would increase traffic in already heavily congested area.”
Other concerns included “access road to proposed houses is
narrow” and “safety concerns for children playing in centre of Croft”.
But the officer said: “In terms of access, the demolition of
the existing garages is unlikely to have any sort of discernible effect on
parking within the Croft.
“Adequate parking provision would be provided for the
proposed 2 No. dwellings, despite its variation in width the access
road/driveway would allow a car to pass/access the dwellings and access for
service/emergency vehicles is not expected to pose any significant safety
issues.”
The officer said: “Taking into account the constraints and
characteristics of the site it is considered that residential development of
the site would make efficient use of the land and address the negative
appearance of the garage court as it currently stands.
“However, the illustrative scheme is not acceptable in terms
in terms of appearance,
landscaping, layout and scale; these matters are reserved
for subsequent approval.”
And they said the “the siting and relationship of the
proposed dwelllings are such that they would have an unreasonable impact” on
two neighbours.
But these “could be addressed by amendments to the layout
and scale of the scheme”.
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