2 Westbourne Park Road Bournemouth BH4 8HG

1. 1.The proposed development would introduce two significantly smaller plots occupied by overly large dwellings in a backland setting which would result in a cramped form of development that would erode the existing spaciousness of the plot and would amount to overdevelopment of the site and would not respect the prevailing character of the area. The proposed development would therefore be contrary to Policies CS21 and CS41 of the Core Strategy (2012), 6.8 of the District Wide Local Plan (2002) and the Residential Design Guide (2008).
2. 2.The proposal does not provide for a safe access and cannot be considered to be well designed and as it is unsafe it does not provide a high quality, healthy or safe environment for existing users of the access and new users associated with the development proposal, including residents and members of the public visiting the existing flats or proposed new houses. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policies CS5, CS6 and CS41 of the Bournemouth Local Plan: Core Strategy Bournemouth Borough Council (Adopted October 2012) and the aims of the National Planning Policy Framework which seeks development to be safe.
3. 3.The applicant has failed to provide a metric or habitat plan to correctly calculate the baseline habitat value for the application site, as required by legislation. Therefore, the application does not accord with the requirements of Part 3 of Article 7 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. The applicant has also failed to explain how the statutory objective of achieving a 10% net gain in biodiversity for the development will be met. Therefore, the proposed development would be contrary to Part 2 of Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021)
4. 4.The site lies between 400m and 5km of Dorset heathlands which are protected under European legislation for their wildlife importance. The Dorset Heathlands Planning Framework Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) 2020-2025 sets out the means by which the cumulative impacts of additional residential development in this zone can be mitigated. In this instance the proposal fails to secure the mitigation measures identified as necessary in the SPD such that it would be contrary to policy CS33 and the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework, particularly paragraph 118.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

BH4 8HG

Application type

Full Planning Permission

Scale / size

Small

Date validated

13 March 2026

Consultation expiry

15 April 2026

Consultation start

16 March 2026

Consultation end

15 April 2026

Agent address

Office 8 Dewlands Road Verwood BH31 6PL

Documents

12