Plan for nine flats at Canal Walk, Southampton, turned down

The city council has rejected an application to replace a five-bedroom hotel and an adjoining clinic at Canal Walk with a larger complex containing nine homes.

Council officers criticised the "unacceptable" design of the proposed development and the "poor residential environment" for future occupiers of the flats.

The application said: "The proposal is to retain the current hotel building and wrap a new five-storey residential development around it.

"Seven of the flats will feature balconies whilst flats 4 and 7 will feature generous double aspect reception rooms.

Plans to redevelop a site at Canal Walk, Southampton, have been turned down by the city council. Picture: SCC planning portal.

"Balconies will generally be angled at 45 degrees away from the passageway. This will maximise the potential for natural light from the south and also reduce the potential for overlooking should the adjacent site to the east be redeveloped.

"The current commercial unit is in a poor commercial location, hidden away from the main frontage, with very little passing trade."

The application said the scheme was consistent with the five-storey buildings in the area, unlike the previously-proposed six-storey complex refused in 2016.

It added: "The proposal has been designed to be attractive, appropriate and neighbourly and has addressed all of the matters raised during the 2016 application."

Plans to redevelop a site at Canal Walk, Southampton, have been turned down by the city council. Picture: SCC planning portal.

But a council report said several of the flats were unlikely to receive sufficient daylight.

It also said a proposed extension to part of the existing building would fail to reflect its current character and appearance.

It added that other buildings in the area "tend to have a more refined appearance".

"The design is contrived owing to windows in the side elevation set at an oblique angle, the only reason for this being an attempt to improve outlook for rooms facing east.

"Therefore the building would have an overly fussy appearance."

Summing up, the report added: "The scheme will cause additional harm to the visual amenity of the area by failing to deliver a well-designed, high-density development. A poor residential environment would be created and the design is unacceptable."

The site sits over part of a Southampton-Salisbury canal that existed in the late 18th century.

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