15 November 2007
|
Report Title: |
Cloch Road Residential Development, Gourock |
|
Issue Date: |
15th November 2007 |
|
Client/Developer: |
Kenmore Homes |
|
Lead Designer: |
JM Architects |
|
Local Authority: |
Inverclyde Council |
|
Location: |
Gourock |
|
Planning Ref.: |
IC/07/333 |
|
Details: |
Proposals for a large scale residential development of approximately 100 units at the entry point to Gourock from the West |
|
PDF version: |
Cloch Road Residential Development Gourock (36kb) |
Extracted from a letter to Inverclyde Council, Planning and Transportation Department
Thank you for your letter dated 15th October 2007, which enclosed details of the above planning application. The designs were discussed at an internal design review meeting on 23rd October 2007. The Panel were provided with background information on the project, including a copy of JM Architects' letter of 28th August 2007 to A+DS, written in response to our comments in our letter of 1st August 2007. Images of the site and its immediate and wider context were also included in the briefing for the Panel and indeed some members of the Panel were already familiar with the area.
We note the architects' response to our previous concerns over the landscape issues raised and welcome the appointment of a landscape architect to help address this. However, we have not received information on the landscaping proposals and so are unable to comment on how this aspect of the designs has been progressed.
In our previous letter we acknowledged the intention to mark the entry point into the town with a tower element, though we felt that a greater emphasis on the unique land features present could provide alternative means of expressing this. Not withstanding, further clarification was required to explain what was determining the tower's height and, if a tower was deemed to be appropriate, we felt that it might be more successful as a stand-alone object. We recognise the way in which the designs have been revised to try to address this and we note the additional information showing how the development would be viewed from the road when approaching from the west. However, we do not feel that the argument for a tower in this location has been demonstrated successfully and still question whether a tower is an appropriate response to the site.
We support the principal of a residential building in this location and we welcome a contemporary approach, but we feel that the tower element is suppressing the rest of what is otherwise a very promising scheme. We suggest that the development would be more successful if the tower were not there.
I would be grateful if you would keep A+DS informed of the progress of this planning application.