Flats plan rejected due to lack of privacy

Plans to turn the ground floor of a former bed shop into flats have been rejected as they would create an "oppressive living environment" and lack privacy, a council has said.

The application to convert the store on Sunbridge Road in Bradford was submitted last year but planners said the store front's large windows meant passers-by would be able to look straight into the apartments.

Developers argued the flats would provide "much-needed additional housing" to the area and confirmed it planned to use privacy screens.

But a Bradford Council spokesperson said: "The flat would feel confined, offering a poor-quality living environment that falls short of acceptable residential standards."

The upper floors of 111 to 117 Sunbridge Road had already been converted into flats but when those plans were approved it was under the condition the ground floor space remained as retail.

Medipharm Bradford Ltd's application said: "Our proposal will add to the vitality of the area and also bring an unused section of this building of interest within the Goitside Conservation Area back into full use.

"The building was previously marketed for rent as a shop unit, without any interest for many years."

The plans also included the removal of some modern shop front features and replacing them with ones more suitable for the building, which dates back to 1901.

But planners were concerned about the living standard of the flats' future residents.

Officers said: "This part of the building was formerly a shop, with a large shop front window forming the only source of natural light and outlook to the flat's habitable rooms.

"The window sits directly beside a public walkway, with no defensible space, resulting in significant potential for passers-by to look straight into the apartment causing a total lack of privacy for residents."

It added: "To mitigate this, the applicant proposes applying privacy film to the shop front however, this would obscure more than half of the glazing, effectively creating high-level windows and leaving the flat with a severely restricted outlook."

The local authority concluded that the flats would feel "confined" and rejected the plans, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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