Modernist home on busy York road ‘will cause traffic hazard’
Plans for a modernist family home near a main route into York are set to be approved.
But one person objecting to the scheme says the proposed zinc roof could “reflect sunlight and cause a traffic hazard” on Tadcaster Road.
Proposals for the bungalow on the corner of St Aubyn’s Place at the foot of The Mount to be demolished and replaced with a newly-built family home were turned down previously because of the building’s design.
But the plans have since been updated and council officers say they are now in favour of the scheme.
A report says a four-bedroom property with a modernist design could be built on the land, which is next to the Grade II-listed Elmbank Hotel.
But there were 25 objections to the most recent plans.
‘Visual blight’
Other comments include worries that the home “will detract from a beautiful uninterrupted approach into York” and that the house will “block views of the Elmbank Hotel and harm its setting”.
One objection says: “The Elmbank Hotel is listed Grade II* and the significance of its architecture should not be harmed by a very modern, individual and stand-out property.”
Some neighbours have also said the construction work will be disruptive.
‘A positive addition’
But the plans are set for approval at a City of York Council meeting on Thursday.
A report by planning officers says the new part single and part two-storey home “respects the dominance” of the hotel and adds: “The new dwelling is of a modernist design, but elegant and having a simple palate of materials with appropriate detailing.
“It is seen as a positive addition to the area, successfully responding to key elements in the conservation areas and local streets, whilst reinterpreting it to an appropriate, contemporary design, but also subservient and muted in the street scene.”
The previous design was turned down because it was out of place and inappropriately prominent, according to the report.