Plans for new apartment block turned down

Plans for a new four-storey apartment block at Victoria Dock in Hull have been refused by the city council.

The building would have housed 23 apartments on the north-east corner of the roundabout at the junction of Plimsoll Way and South Bridge Road.

The application was recommended for conditional approval by the council's planning department.

However, members of the planning committee voted to reject it after hearing objections from ward councillors.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, an application had previously been approved on the site for a mixed-use residential and retail development.

The applicant told the meeting that proposal was now "less viable" due to "economic circumstances affecting the viability of commercial floor space".

Councillor Diana Hatcher, who represents Drypool ward, stepped down from chairing the committee in order to object to the plans.

She said: "I think the rationale for approving this from the planning department seems to be that, 'OK, it's got existing planning permission, so we'll just push this through'."

Hatcher read out a letter on behalf of her ward colleague, Councillor Linda Chamber, who was unable to attend the meeting but argued the development "would completely alter the character and appearance of this area".

A planning officer's report stated that 90 letters or emails of objection had been submitted.

Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the plans.

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