A vacant former printworks in Marlow is set to be demolished and developed into new homes despite neighbours raising privacy concerns.

Mrs G Player has been given permission by Buckinghamshire Council to build two detached four-bedroom homes to the rear of the bend in 39 Southview Road.

Her plans state that the site is of ‘generous size’, meaning there will be ‘no adverse effect on the neighbouring properties’.

The applicant’s new homes, each with their own garage, will be one and a half to two-storey ‘chalet style bungalows’ that are ‘sympathetic in design’ and made out of ‘traditional’ materials including bricks and clay tiles.

The properties will be served by the existing access road for the commercial building on the site and will have ‘sufficient parking and vehicular turning’.

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Blueprints for the properties say they will fit in with neighbouring homes, ‘avoid overlooking to sensitive private rooms and gardens’ and will be kept ‘separate from boundaries and private gardens’.

But some residents disagree, including next-door neighbour Paul Ingram who raised several concerns about the proposals.

He claimed the footprint of Mrs Player’s plans ‘far exceeds the footprint and height of the existing commercial building’.

The resident added: “The proposal is out of scale with the size of plot, represents over-development of the site and is out of keeping with the local area in terms of density and layout.”

In another section of his written objection, he said: “Proposals create considerable change to neighbouring properties including 41 Southview Rd in terms of overlooking, privacy and sun/daylight impacts.”

Another nearby neighbour to the development site, Ms Barbara Anne Jones, also raised concerns about the new properties intruding into people’s privacy.

In a letter of objection, she wrote: “The rear property in particular will have front bedroom windows looking directly into the garden of the front property, as well as into the gardens along Southview Road and Wycombe Road.

“Additionally, the properties will be far higher than the existing commercial property and therefore much more obtrusive.”

Meanwhile, next-door neighbour Richard Smart claimed that there would be a ‘loss of daylight and sunlight’ and added: “The redevelopment is overcrowding of the site and is detrimental to the character of the area.”

However, the applicant’s plans state that the site has ‘ample space for the proposed dwellings that would have no adverse impact on its neighbours’.

Planning officers appeared to agree as they delivered their decision notice.

They wrote: “The neighbours in the Southview Road frontage are not adversely affected by the frontage dwelling on plot one as they are roughly in line and this new dwelling has no flank windows that would cause overlooking to them.

“The neighbour at 37 is also not adversely affected by the proposed dwelling on plot two. There are no windows causing any loss of privacy, but the neighbour has expressed concerns about the outlook to the rear of their property.”

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