As residents will know I objected to the application on the site of Red Gables in Beech Avenue. I believe that the application was out of character with the area and would be harmful to the character of the locality and the visual amenity of the surrounding landscape namely The Beeches. I am pleased to see that the application has been refused siting some of the reasons I put forward but also the lack of affordable homes. For now residents can breath a sigh of relief but sadly I am sure another application will be forthcoming. There follows the official wording from the council:
Red Gables, 2 Beech Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 0NL
Reason(s) for Refusal:
1 By reason of its scale, form and design the development would not be of high quality would be harmful to the character of the locality and detrimental to the visual amenity of the surrounding townscape. The development would thereby conflict with Policies SP4.1, SP4.2 and DM10 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018), Policies 7.1, 7.4, and 7.6 of the London Plan (consolidated with alterations since 2011) and the Croydon Suburban Design Guide (2019).
2 The development would fail to adequately contribute to addressing London's and the borough's need for affordable homes and would therefore be contrary to Policies SP2.4 and SP2.5 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018) and 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13 of the London Plan (consolidated with Alterations since 2011).
3 The application has not demonstrated that the flood risk from the site has been adequately addressed or provides an adequate scheme of sustainable drainage. The proposal would fail to meet the requirements of the NPPF and PPG, Policy 5.13 of the London Plan (consolidated with alterations since 2011) and Policy SP6.4 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018).
4 Insufficient information has been provided to demonstrate that the development would not result in unacceptable harm to protected species or habitats. This would be contrary to Policies SP7.4, DM27 and DM28 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018) and Policy 7.19 of the London Plan (consolidated with alterations since 2011).
5 The development would result in the loss of or the putting at risk of valued trees. The loss of these trees would be detrimental to the character of the area and the proposal is, therefore, contrary to SP7, DM10.8, DM27 and DM28 of the Croydon Local Plan: Strategic Policies 2013 and 7.4 and 7.21 of the London Plan (consolidated with alterations since 2011).
