Winter Gardens plans approved – despite concerns scheme ‘contravenes council’s policies’

Described as ‘the largest scheme in the town in a generation’, the outline scheme, which includes more than 350 flats, was backed by members of the council’s planning committee on Wednesday.

However, there was opposition from councillors Kieron Wilson and Stephen Bartlett, who said that the scheme was ‘contrary to so many’ of the council’s policies.

The Winter Gardens proposals, put forward by Bournemouth Development Company (BDC) – the partnership between Bournemouth council and Morgan Sindall, were submitted last year but went through a series of revisions.

At a special meeting of the council’s planning committee on Wednesday, the latest plans, including 352 flats across four blocks; leisure and retail space; and almost 600 parking spaces were backed by councillors.

Permission was granted despite opposition from Cllrs Kieron Wilson and Stephen Bartlett who said that it contravened several of its policies, including too few parking spaces and the buildings being too tall.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Bartlett said: “Some people might say that this application would never have seen the light of day if it wasn’t a Bournemouth Development Company scheme.

“There’s definitely a perception that we may be in this position because the Bournemouth Development Company has submitted the application,” Cllr Bartlett said.

He added that Bournemouth council executive director, Bill Cotton, being chairman of the BDC board while also heading-up the council’s planning department could make determining applications difficult for planning officers.

“What’s going through officers’ minds when their boss is working on this? It’s a real dichotomy and I don’t think it should work like that.”

A move by Cllr Bartlett that planning permission be refused was defeated by four votes to two.

Following this, committee chairman Cllr David Kelsey put forward a successful proposal permitting the development.