THE FUTURE of a revised Altrincham development criticised by residents will be decided on Thursday.  

Ben Fearns, on behalf of Novo Property Group, is seeking permission to revamp Oak House, Barrington Road, into a mixture of two and three-bed flats.

But the new scheme has been blasted by neighbours who have cited parking, noise and traffic problems as reasons Trafford council should reject the proposal.

The scheme includes redeveloping Oak House to provide six apartments, as well as erecting an extension to the rear, which would offer an additional two.

Previously, the plan had been to convert Oak House and build two properties at the rear of the site.

The application was withdrawn in January after council officers raised concerns about the design of the two homes.

A planning document stated: “The scheme now being proposed has been carefully designed to overcome these concerns.

“It will deliver new dwellings on this brownfield site, in a manner which responds positively to the site context and will ensure the amenity of existing and future residents is preserved.”

The plans also include proving eight car parking spaces, cycling provision and bin stores.

However, residents Ian and Carrie Griffiths, who live at nearby Barrington Close. say access to the plot will be a major issue.   

“Barrington Close is a single-track private road, established as a right-of-way in the 1960s and is the sole vehicular access for numbers one and two,” explained Mr Griffiths.

“Of course, in the 60s households generally only owned one car, if that, but, over 50 years on, people now typically possess at least two.

“What Novo Property Group is proposing is to create eight new dwellings, so instead of serving two homes Barrington Close will now have to service a total of 10 dwellings and, potentially, 20 or more vehicles.

“All this without any plans to widen the road or improve access.”

Mr Griffiths added: “In fact, to squeeze more parking spaces into their already-crammed proposal, the plans indicate a narrowing of the road on a tight corner.

“Residents have huge concern over safety – in the event of a fire, will a fire engine be able to access our property?”

“It will also cause problems for deliveries and refuse collections,” he added.

In a letter, Julie Carney appealed to the authority to reject the scheme.

“On average, there would be two vehicles per property which means that provision should be made for 16 cars,” she wrote.

“The area is already congested due to lack of parking provision and gridlocked at certain times of the day.”

Resident Bev Robinson raised safety concerns and claimed Barrington Road was already ‘difficult to cross’.    

A transport document disagreed and stated the development would generate a ‘low’ number of vehicles during peak periods.

“Therefore, the traffic impact of the proposed development would be neutral,” added the report.