Lower Hillgate apartments return to planners after refusal

An application for a five and six-storey apartment block on Lower Hillgate in Stockport has been resubmitted, four months after proposals were first rejected by planners.

Outline planning permission was granted to Clearly Developments to build on the site at 32-36 Lower Hillgate in 2015, which falls under Stockport’s Hillgate Conservation Area.

Full planning permission for a 22-apartment, five-and-six storey building followed last year but this was rejected by Stockport’s planners in October, who said the proposals failed to provide “an adequate level of private or shared amenity space” for residents.

Planners also said the scheme did not provide enough affordable housing, nor did it provide an internal lift between floors, putting it at odds with Stockport’s planning policy.

The scheme has now returned to planners as a reserved matters application with significant alterations by designer Hive Architects and Portsmouth-based planner Town Planning Experts.

It will now include 21 apartments and a retail unit at ground floor level, in place of 22 apartments.

The project’s planners argued the proposals would “sustain the character and appearance” of the conservation area through its brick cladding, use of traditional materials, and the retail unit’s design to be in keeping with neighbouring shop fronts.

The site has long been earmarked for development, with a similar scheme starting on site before being pulled during the recession in 2008.

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