A PLANNING application to demolish the old Bay View Cafe in Bigbury-on-Sea and build four detached houses has been resubmitted to SHDC.

The original application was refused on February 12 this year and was resubmitted last month. The refusal was based on lack of sufficient information that ‘the A3 land use [the cafe] is no longer viable or that it has no prospect of continuing to provide social and economic benefit’, that the development ‘does not deliver sufficient social, environmental or economic benefit to outweigh the harm associated with the loss of the undesignated heritage asset’, that the ‘design of the proposed development, by way of its forward projection, dominance, deep plan, massing and utilitarian appearance, is incongruous to the prevailing character of the street scene’ and that Unit 1 would have ‘a poor spatial relationship with the other proposed units and the street scene, suffer from a lack of dedicated outdoor amenity space and appear as a cramped addition, resulting in overdevelopment of the plot.’

The new application has been submitted to South Hams District Council with a few adjustments, but still comprising of three four-bedroom houses at the front of the site and one at the rear.

There have been 24 letters of objection as of Monday afternoon and no letters of support. Jim Chadwick wrote that the new plans are ‘almost identical’ to the ones that were ‘condemned by South Hams District Council’. He said ‘when 40-year-old Warren Cottage is demolished, all the other properties on the sea front are single storey’, that they application will ‘change the historic charm in an area of outstanding natural beauty’ and that ‘profit should not take precedence over an invaluable, existing, beautiful location’.

You can view and comment on this application via this link: tinyurl.com/BayViewPlanning or by going to the South Hams Council planning portal and searching for application number: 1826/16/FUL. A decision is expected on Friday, August 12.