Miles House, Bathwick Hill, Bathwick
Erection of detached 4 storey villa comprising 4no. flats adjacent to Miles House (Resubmission).
Miles House is a Grade II listed mid-19th century detached villa, which has since been converted from offices to four residential apartments (see applications 18/02440/FUL & 18/02441/LBA), situated within the Bath City-Wide Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. Formerly Bathwick Rectory, the building continues to occupy a prominent corner position overlooking Bathwick Hill and the Kennet & Avon Canal to the east. It retains the full extent of its original garden setting, though the front half of the garden has since been hard landscaped to create a car park. Its original boundary treatment along the roadside has also been retained in the form of a finely detailed stepped wall in Bath stone ashlar, with corbelling to the pier capping, recessed moulding, and the use of a sweeping coping as the wall progresses up the hill.
The proposal site has been subject to application 19/03362/FUL (erection of detached 4 storey villa comprising of 4no. flats adjacent to Miles House) (permitted – though it appears that the permission has lapsed).
Application 23/01562/FUL (erection of detached 4 storey villa comprising of 4no. flats adjacent to Miles House) (refused by the notice of 31 October 2023). Refusal reasons include the subjects of on-site renewable energy provision, net loss of bio-diversity, tree loss and harm to the significance of designated heritage assets due to incongruous solar panels.
The Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment Report (the BNG) concludes “Provided the compensation and enhancement measures above are implemented, the proposed development will achieve an overall 1.27% BNG which is appropriate to the minor development at the small site” (p. 16). If the Local Planning Authority issue a positive decision, a suitably robust condition should be attached that ensures that biodiversity net gain is achieved and sustained. In relation to this topic, the loss of established trees will not sustain or enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area.
Where proposed solar panels are on visible roof slopes, there is of course an opportunity to better incorporate them into the design and appearance of the building and ensure a cohesive appearance with the proposed finish of the roofscape, such as setting panels flush or by considering the use of solar slates.
The site would cumulatively be occupied by anywhere between 2-4 residents per flat, at a maximum total of 16 residents in the entire block. Accounting for similar conversion works that have already taken place at Miles House (up to 14-16 residents maximum), the site may accommodate up to 32 residents in total. In relation to the scale of the site and the associated garden facilities as proposed, we question whether this would provide “adequate and usable private or communal amenity space and defensible space” for future occupiers in accordance with Policy D6. There is a risk that the high residential density being accommodated in proposals would be considered to result in the overdevelopment of this site.