I'm delighted to report that last night's planning committee decided to refuse a planning application for yet another block of nine flats in Purley, this time at 220 Brighton Road.
I spoke against this application on grounds of overdevelopment, out of character, massing and parking concerns given that only three car spaces were planned for a building that would have seven two and three bed family flats; the artist's impression of an almost deserted Brighton Road at this junction is a complete pipedream! The amenity space for the unfortunate future residents was very cramped and all along the boundary with Brighton Road, where it would have been very noisy and polluted.
As local residents all know, Purley has been completely swamped by masses of flatted developments ever since the infamous SPD2 document, described as a developers' charter, was approved by the Labour-dominated Council in December 2018. There have been applications for about 100 individual family homes to be replaced by blocks of usually nine flats, and far too many of them have been approved. I'm delighted that the tide has changed since Mayor Perry withdrew SPD2 from planning consideration.
