RESIDENTS have expressed their concerns over proposals for the construction of four new apartments on Flexbury Road in Bude.
At the recent Bude-Stratton Town Council planning committee meeting on Thursday, September 29, members of the public were invited to express their views on the planning applications to be discussed by the town councillors.
The application proposes the demolition of the existing property on 22 Flexbury Road to be replaced with four new modern apartments, and many nearby residents were not at all excited by the concept.
A gentleman began the public’s discussion at the meeting. He said: “This proposal has a disproportionate footprint and is bordered by three bungalows in the area. As said by the officer in the last meeting, it is ‘cramped in its spot’, and this is still very much an issue. Proper consideration should be given, and I don’t think this had been picked up by officers in previous times.
“There are also privacy issues, particularly with the balconies. They have no reference to the others in the area. The existing balconies are small and don’t overlook anything but the nearby golf course. These balconies are much larger and have no resemblance to the existing balconies, so they would be very out of character for the area.”
He continued: “The nature of these proposals are, supposedly, a buy-to-let holiday market, which I am not against at all. I think Bude does very well in this area. However, this would be completely different to everything in the area, and would have a very negative impact on the neighbours with more noise and traffic.”
Deeming the proposals ‘unfair’, another gentleman told the councillors: “The proposals bring the project much closer to our property. It will include floor to window glaze, meaning people would be able to look out onto other properties. The floor to ceiling glass in four rooms would bring the flats closer to our property; it’s oversized and this hasn’t changed, and I also think the footprint has got bigger.”
One lady said: “The building will still tower over our bungalow. The cars parked will increase the risk of road and pedestrian accidents, and the fact that they could be used as holiday homes is really worrying. We already suffer in the summer from the noise made by holiday makers.”
Another lady added: “This proposal fails to respect the immediate surroundings. I can’t see that it’s got anything going for it at all, really.”
Mayor Cllr Lea Deely responded, and said: “If South West Water and the highways say it’s ok, I don’t think there would be any objection. I can see how the proposals would look out of character, and I see their point about modern buildings being built in the area.”
Councillors looked at the plans on the Cornwall Council website, and came to the conclusion that the apartments would have more of a negative impact on the neighbourhood, rather than being positive.
Cllrs Deely, Bob Willingham and Brian Dixon all agreed that the proposals would mean the flats would entail privacy issues for local residents, and that the proposals are ‘overlooking, overshadowing and out of character with the rest of the area’.
The final decision is expected to be made by Cornwall Council’s plans committee.