Buckerell Lodge to be knocked down

Retirement apartments will replace Exeter hotel

Dozens of retirement apartments will replace a famous Exeter hotel after plans were narrowly approved.

The now-closed Buckerell Lodge on Topsham Road, which was also a well-known wedding venue, is to be demolished and replaced by 62 apartments and associated facilities.

Developer McCarthy Stone’s previous application was rejected at the start of last year, however an updated application featuring 23 two-bed apartments and 39 one-bedroom apartments was narrowly passed by the chair’s casting vote at an Exeter City Council planning meeting on Wednesday [8 February].

The three-storey U-shaped building will have a communal lounge on the ground floor and be served by the existing access from Topsham Road. Its car park will have 40 spaces, two of them ‘accessible’ and an electric buggy store.

The application was referred to the planning committee because it received a significant number of objections.

Those against said it would be “overdevelopment,” with a potential impact on existing trees and wildlife. Other criticisms included that the new apartments would lack character, be “overbearing,” and would lead to “overlooking.”

Urging the committee to refuse, local councillor Matthew Vizard (Labour, Newtown & St Leonards) questioned whether the scale and layout of the development was much different to the previously rejected scheme, adding it “does not protect the character and amenity of the neighbourhood.”

He said it “remains unacceptable and of unsympathetic scale” and would represent “overdevelopment.”

Local resident Peter Beecham believes there are “firm planning grounds” for refusal, stressing the importance of the “generous” landscape grounds and objected to the size of the scheme.

“It’s a slab, essentially,” he said.

But Gian Bendinelli from McCarthy Stone defended the application, saying it had been “carefully considered” and had involved “positive discussions” with planning officers and a design review panel of independent experts.

He said it was a sustainable development, would offer financial contributions towards affordable housing and NHS provision in the city, and would meet the housing need for elderly people whilst freeing up other properties in the process.

Recommending approval, a planning officer’s report stated: “The proposal is considered to be a sustainable development when balancing the development plan policies.”

Some concerns were raised about the long length of the corridors on the floorplans with a lift at one end, but Mr Bendinelli said this was a “typical design.”

And while the chair of the committee, Councillor Emma Morse (Labour, Mincinglake & Whipton) said the design was “not to [her] taste,” she reminded members the design and review panel had found it acceptable.

A planning officer added this verdict meant the council would be in a “weak position” at an appeal if the committee opted to refuse, with Cllr Morse therefore concluding: “I don’t think we have got grounds for a refusal.”

After the vote was tied at five votes apiece, her casting vote as chair meant the application was approved, subject to conditions.