AN APPLICATION to demolish the Garden House on the north side of Westerhall Road, Weymouth and replace it with 12 one-bed flats has been refused permission.

A Dorset Council planning officer decided that the scheme would be an over-development of the site “causing harm to the (adjacent) conservation area setting and the street scene.”

There were other concerns about over-looking from some windows in the three-storey building which would have rooms in the roof space and the white render finish which was considered inappropriate for the area.

Six letter of objection were received – with comments about road safety, change of outlook, the size and design of the building, overlooking and the parking layout.

A council officer summed up the reasons for refusing the application: “Having regard to the bulk, massing and visually awkward design of the rear section, the mainly white (inappropriate) walling treatment colour, coupled with the poor amenity space provision, dominance of car parking and the loss of planting/limited scope for new planting, it is considered that the scheme constitutes an over-development of the site which would be alien to the townscape context and which would neither preserve nor enhance the setting of the conservation area.”