CONTENTIOUS plans to build more than 50 new homes in a 'gateway' location in Christchurch have been narrowly turned down.
Fortitudo Ltd applied to BCP Council for outline permission for a block of 51 apartments and four houses on land at the corner of Barrack Road and The Grove.
At present the site is made up of an area of grass and hard surface used by a business for open storage.
On balance, planners and councillors overall felt the proposed four-storey building was 'excessive in scale' and 'harmful' to the area.
One councillor described the building as looking "like a huge prison block".
Objections were lodged by Natural England and Christchurch Town Council, with BCP Council's highways department recommending refusal of the plans on a number of issues.
The local authority's trees and landscaping department also raised concerns over the "negative impact the proposal will have on the character of the local landscape".
Read more: Flats plan for site in Barrack Road, Christchurch, approved
In total, 284 comments were received, of which 275 were objections over the the existing congestion on Barrack Road, air pollution and pressure on existing services as well as loss of open space and concerns over flooding.
In their report to the committee, officers said the scheme is considered to have "significant environmental harm".
This was based on overdevelopment of the site, poor living environment for many future residents with minimal amenity space and 'deficient' cycle parking, the officer said.
But Richard Carr, chief executive of Fortitudo, said: "The design of this building is based on buildings at Christchurch Hospital which won a civic award in 1991.
"The urban design officer wanted to see contemporary buildings on this site, which I refused to entertain.
Read more: More than 150 objections to Christchurch plan for 55 homes
"This is a gateway site to Christchurch which should showcase some of the town's character."
The site is deemed to have a 'high risk of flooding', with the application failing a key test which suggests refusing development "if there are reasonable available sites appropriate for the proposed development with lower risk of flooding”.
This test was called into question by councillors during the debate.
Deputy committee chairman Cllr Toby Johnson said he was "torn" over the application.
"It would certainly be far better than what is currently there", he said.
"My issues do come back to the flood risk as it doesn't meet the test. We have to rely on our officers who are experts in these matters. In principle I love the development and if it had met that test I would be supporting it."
Cllr Paul Hilliard said: "The flooding is the smallest part to refuse this application. The main ones are the scale and bulk.
"There is no comparison to Christchurch Hospital.
"It may be scrub land, but it is currently not a waste of space."
Cllr Simon McCormack conceded it was a "good development site". But he said it was "the most prominent example of over development he had seen while sitting on the committee".
Members refused the plans by eight votes to six.
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