Wath flats plan rejected

REVAMPED plans for two blocks of flats have been booted out by planners despite efforts to make them less of a blot on the landscape.

Rotherham Borough Council has refused for a second time Wath Developments’ application to build 26 flats in two two-storey blocks off West Street in Wath.

The scheme, earmarked for the site of a former petrol station, did not attract any public protest, but council planning officers ruled that the developers had not gone far enough to reduce its impact on surrounding buildings including Wath Parish Church.

Wath Developments had applied to build two buildings with a similar footprint to their previous scheme, made up of an L-shaped building fronting West Street and a U-shaped building on the back part of the site.

The revised plans contained one flat fewer and one parking space more, plus  more windows and minor changes in design and parking arrangements.

The biggest change was reducing the height of the building fronting West Street from three stories to two, meaning that the whole development would be two storeys high.

But councillors threw out the scheme after it was lambasted by planning officers and borough council conservation officer Peter Thornborrow.