RESIDENTS claim the Lowther Road area of Bournemouth is being ‘ruined’ by replacing family homes with flats.

But despite their pleas BCP planners unanimously approved changing 98 Lowther Road into nine flats, a similar development to next door (No 96) which was approved in October last year.

The proposal allows for the demolition of the existing house and building six 1-bed and three 2-bed flats in the new block.

One neighbour, a mother with two children, told councillors “there is already too many flats in the area, we don’t need any more.”

She said among the problems with changing family homes into flats was the increased traffic they brought with them, often with inadequate on-site parking.

Another resident, who said he had spent a lifetime in the area, expressed similar views: “We have seen the destruction of so many family homes. We need more not less family homes in the area.”

Ward councillor Cllr Roberto Rocca echoed the views –  claiming the three parking spaces for the nine flats was totally inadequate and would only lead to further parking and traffic problems.

He said he was also worried about whether water, sewage and electricity networks in the area would cope with the additional demand of the proposed flats, together with others already approved.

He said there had been around seventy objections to the proposal which reflected the level of concern about the changes taking place in the area – and said he worried that the trend would only accelerate.

Cllr Tony Trent said he was unhappy with the proposal to knock the existing building down claiming it was not a sustainable way to proceed, when in his view, the five-bed house already there could have been converted, maintaining the character of the area. He also expressed concern about the loss of trees proposed in the development and said the scheme, as proposed, had too many 1-bed flats.

Cllr Derek Borthwick said he felt the proposal “quite suitable” for the area. “We do need houses,” he said.

Cllr Toby Johnson said the area had changed over the years and said it would be ‘perverse’ to not approve the scheme when the council had already agreed a ‘mirror image’ application next door.