Plans to build nine flats on the site of former garages in Andover have been rejected after the council raised a litany of concerns.

Under the plans, Irongate Developments Ltd planned to demolish 40 vacant garages in Bilbao Court and build a block of nine flats, as well as parking for residents of these buildings. Previous plans for the site have been submitted and withdrawn on a number of occasions.

Test Valley Borough Council has now rejected the plans, with a list of reasons as to why. These include concerns the plans “would not integrate, respect or complement the character of the area” and ‘lacked quality’ in relation to design, as well as concerns over residents’ privacy, additional parking pressure the development would put on the local area, and that the plans would not be nitrate neutral.

The plans had previously received objections from the town council, with Cllr Barbara Long, now mayor, noting concerns over the effects of parking in Bilbao Court and along Vigo Road.

“What parking is left for the existing flats?” she asked. “The 21 spaces answer the needs for the new development, but the garages provided parking for the rest of the flats in Bilbao Court when they were built.

“They say they can use the lay-bys in Vigo Road but there should be sufficient parking for the whole of Bilbao Court in Bilbao Court. Vigo Road is a very busy road, lay-bys are used continuously almost for allowing parents to drop children off and for people who live in Vigo Road. It should not be mitigating parking spaces for Bilbao Court.”

The council subsequently lodged an objection to the plans, on the grounds of insufficient parking for new and existing flats and not enough green space being provided.

Aaron Smith, the planning agent for Bilbao Court, had argued the plans improved on previous versions, saying that the scheme exceeded TVBC’s standards by one space.

He added: “Our scheme does provide amenity space for all of the flats now. There are balconies serving each of the upper floor units which are all good, usable space and the ground floor flats have their own private amenity space. This is very much unlike the rest of the Bilbao Court scheme where they don’t have these spaces.”

The council subsequently lodged an objection to the plans, on the grounds of insufficient parking for new and existing flats and not enough green space being provided.

TVBC officers had also objected to the plans on landscaping grounds, saying the scheme would only be acceptable “if a high quality landscaping scheme can be achieved throughout the estate”.

The developers had issued a rebuttal of these comments, saying that “it is not the applicant’s responsibility to provide additional landscaping outside of the application site.”

They said that focus should only be put on the garages, which had “no landscape value”.

However, following consideration by TVBC, the plans have now been rejected. The developers may choose to resubmit the plans in a modified form, or appeal the decision to the planning inspectorate.