Sandbanks plans for Panorama Road deferred

The controversial scheme for a block of 15 luxury flats over a restaurant at Panorama Road, Sandbanks was put off at Thursday's planning committee due to last-minute “claims and counter-claims”.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole planning chairman, Cllr David Kelsey, said although the application had, in his words, “been going on for far too long” the council needed time to sort out some of the claims being made about the scheme, including taking advice from legal officers.

Sandbanks Yacht Club

He said that from Monday to Wednesday the council had received several applications, letters and comments, some referring to legal issues.

“I don’t feel that it has given planning officers time to go through all those comments suitably and to counter any claims about falsehoods in the report…I am going to defer this so we can have clarity,” he said.

Read more: Fears Sandbanks will turn into Magaluf if flats are built

The committee heard that the application had been available for comments for 72 weeks.

“This has been going on for far, far too long, Members and applicants and objectors have had 70-odd weeks to deal with this application. It is has been deferred, in my opinion now, for the very last time,” said Cllr Kelsey.

“Everyone has had far too long to deal with this,” he said, “There will be one cycle to get this sorted and then we will hear about it, no matter what.”

Plans for Panorama Road in Sandbanks

The council’s next scheduled planning committee meeting is in February, although solicitor Robert Firth said it might be possible to bring it back within a shorter period.

There had been claims that the development would turn the area into a version of Magaluf if the four-storey block at 30-34 Panorama Road was allowed.

Dozens of residents have objected to the application, many of them coming in at the last minute, according to Cllr Kelsey.

One of the objectors is Celia Sawyer, a celebrity interior designer, whose home is close to the site.

Read more: Rockwater Village plans for Sandbanks and Branksome

She and husband Nick wrote to the council to describe the new building a ‘monstrosity’ and a ‘grossly oversized development’ that is more in-keeping with the Spanish party capital Magaluf.

Others said they were worried about the ground floor restaurant which they claimed would lead to increased noise and ‘catastrophic and dangerous’ scenes with customers jamming up the roads while looking for a parking space.

Some claimed that the four storey block would dwarf homes around it and encourage other developers to build just as high.

The development would consist of 15 luxury apartments over three floors with a restaurant and office space on the ground floor and parking for residents only at basement level. It is earmarked for a prime harbourside plot that is currently used as a boat yard owned by the Sandbanks Yacht Company.

There is already a restaurant on the site for yacht club members but the new one would be more than twice the size of it with about 150 covers.