SIR: On February 6 you published an article under the headline ‘Council Approves Plans for New House on Winchester Upmarket Street’.

This report concerned a planning application to WCC to build a four storey house in our next-door neighbour’s back garden. Many local residents objected to the scheme on the grounds, among other things, that it is completely out of proportion to the size of the site, and would have a negative impact on our community in terms of loss of privacy. Because of the very large number of objectors the case was heard by the Planning Committee.

It was the first time most of us (there were 20 local residents present) had attended such proceedings, and it was an eye-opener. Most of the committee members seemed bored (they had clearly ‘seen it all before’) and of the rest, the two or three that bothered to speak were concerned with minor details while the main points went undiscussed. Although we were allowed time-limited presentations by ourselves and our local ward councillor, we residents were excluded from the debate, such as it was. We had thought that our concerns would be listened to, especially as no one - not the developer, the owners of the site, or, significantly, the planning officers - had had the courtesy to consult us prior to the application being lodged with the council.

READ MORE: Council approves plans for new house on Winchester upmarket street

In the end the committee, having ignored many of our well-argued objections, voted to approve the scheme, leaving us to live with the consequences of their decision; this massive, inappropriate, ugly house will now be built whether we like it or not. The idea that the committee members (elected by us) and the planning officers (whose salaries we pay through the council tax) are there to protect us from the whims of greedy developers is clearly a joke.

Were the scheme to have been refused, the developer would have had the right to appeal. No such right exists for those who oppose such a scheme - which surely is undemocratic.

This is the reality of local planning in our city today.

Robert Carter,

St Cross Road,

Winchester

 

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this story. We really appreciate your support.

Please help us to continue bringing you all the trusted news from your area by sharing this story or by following our Facebook page.

Kimberley Barber