Arts and Crafts house in Leamington to be knocked down to make way for apartment block despite numerous objections

An Arts and Crafts house is to be knocked down and a number of trees and bushes ripped out to make way for a block of six apartments on a leafy Leamington road.

Campaigners against the plan said the large two-story building on the corner of Woodcote Road and College Road would be out of character, detrimental to the street scene and an overdevelopment of the site.

More than 70 objections were received by Warwick District Council and Stephen Fleming addressed the planning committee on Tuesday (February 2) on behalf of a group of 60 local residents.

He said that 84 per cent of trees on the site would be chopped down and added: “In place of a fine Arts and Crafts house built between 1923 and 1936 the applicant is cramming in an ugly block of six flats with a footprint three to five times bigger than any house in Woodcote Road or College Drive.”

Cllr Bill Gifford (Lib Dem, Leamington Milverton) added: “This is an unfortunate application as it is sadly a gross overdevelopment of the site with all the problems that that causes.”

The scheme will retain a number of trees and include landscaping around the site but a protected beech tree will be one of those chopped down.

Planning agent David Sercombe told the meeting: “The scheme seeks to secure the survival of these trees in the long term.

"The applicant has employed a nationally renowned arboricultural consultant to assess the trees.

"All TPO trees where possible are to remain and the removal of existing low quality trees and shrubs will give them greater prominence and improve their longevity.

“The existing diseased beech tree is to be removed and replaced with high quality specimen trees to enhance the boundary.”

The council’s development services manager Gary Fisher agreed that the six two-bedroom flats would be a significant increase in the footprint but added that they were designed to give the appearance of two separate structures in order to reduce the massing.

He said: “It is a very significant development on this site and it is starting to move away from the character of the area.

"We understand the range of views as to whether this does or does not harmonise with the surrounding area.

“Our view is that it makes effective use of a fairly extensive site, it's designed in a sensitive way and while it is a proposal of apartments we think it is thoughtfully put together to seek to harmonise as far as possible.”

The plans were approved by nine votes to one.