Plans to demolish the car hand wash site on Northdown Road, at the corner with Athelstan Road, and build a block of 20 flats with two ground floor retail units have been rejected by Thanet council
The site, which is adjacent to the Pettman Repository Building that was once the home of Resort art studios, was previously a petrol station. In recent years it had become the subject of complaints due to flytipped rubbish being left at the site.
In 2021 the property was offered at auction and there was planning permission in place for two commercial units and 21 two-bedroom flats.
The latest application was for 13 one-bed and 7 two-bed flats and 2 ground floor retail units with associated refuse stores, storage and landscaping following demolition of existing workshop.
The proposed new building would have been an L-shaped block, four storeys high fronting Northdown and Athelstan Roads with a lower ground floor accessed from a ramp down from the latter.
The application, by Ang Construction Ltd, proposed 20 cycle spaces but no car parking area.
Thanet council has rejected the proposal on grounds including an overconcentration of one-bed units “within a deprived and transient area” and that some of the flats would be of an unacceptable standard due to their size.
The decision notice also says insufficient information has been submitted about the management of surface water and that the proposed building was “in an incongruous, bulk and dominant form of development, that would detract from the appearance of the existing terrace and the wider conservation area.”
The decision notice also says the applicant has failed to enter into a legal agreement or provide an appropriate amount and mix of affordable housing and the build would result in increased demand for on street parking in an area where there is existing pressure.
