Retirement home set to go ahead despite fears
Waverley Road - the street where houses will be demolished to make way for the new build if planning approval is given.
HOUSES along Waverley Road could be demolished to make way for brand new retirement homes if planners overlook objections and approve a major application next week.
Developers, McCarthy and Stone Retirement Lifestyles Ltd, hope to completely demolish the buildings 48-50 Waverley Road and in their place build a 22 apartment ‘Later Living’ complex.
The new ‘L’ shaped building would include 17 parking spaces for residents and vary in height up to three storeys.
But in spite of widespread objection from neighbours and council highways officers over parking and impact on the street, planning officers at Warwick District Council have recommended the plans be given the green light at Tuesday’s meeting.
The large scale proposals have been met with opposition in the area with neighbours lodging complaints of over loss of light, privacy and view from their homes.
They fear the new units will put added strain on already “heavily congested parking” provision and on the Bertie Road junction.
One neighbour said: “It is simply not credible for the would-be developer to assert that there would be little impact on traffic movements. The replacement of two dwelling units by twenty two will inevitably have a significant impact on traffic.”
Another objector fearing for traffic said: “14 parking spaces surely is not enough for a development of this size, where will the ‘overflow’ parking be?”
Kenilworth Town Council deemed parking to be inadequate on site and that public spaces should increase to help ease current congestion and make way for a large number of new residents moving into the street.
And the council highways department objected to the plans on grounds that the building is too close to the junction meaning poor visibility will be an issue for safety.
They also called for the number of proposed parking spaces to be increased from 14 to 17 to manage demand from the apartments and visitors.
But planning officers have deemed the build would not pose “unacceptable harm” to the character of the area nor adversely affect nearby residents amenities, pushing for the plans to go ahead.
They also note that 14 spaces is “adequate” parking provision for the 22 units and recommend the application goes ahead.
Councillors on the planning committee will debate and vote on the application on Tuesday at the Planning meeting in Leamington’s Town Hall from 6pm.
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Weather for Kenilworth
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
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Temperature: 4 C to 14 C
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