A planning application for a $12 million, four-storey apartment complex on North West Point Road in West Bay has returned to the Central Planning Authority seven months after the board rejected it.
The CPA considered the new application brought by the developer at its meeting on Wednesday, 24 Nov.
The new version of the application still contains plans for a four-storey 29-apartment building, but instead of two two-storey houses on the site, it now includes two two-storey apartment buildings and one single-story apartment. The new application does not include a cafe, as the earlier one did.
Neighbours John and Claire Upperton, who have lived in their single-storey home in the adjacent property for 40 years, argued that the plans were very similar to the earlier application and queried why the developer had not appealed the CPA’s decision to reject the application, rather than returning with a slightly amended one.
The previous application had been submitted by a company called NWPR Group Limited. The new application was submitted by Point West Apartments.
The CPA had rejected the earlier application on the grounds that “the mass, scale and height of the proposed development are not harmonious and compatible with the existing
development on the adjacent properties which are significantly smaller buildings in
terms of mass, scale and height”.
Kariba architect Derek Serpell, appearing on behalf of the developer, said each of these elements had been addressed in the new application, and the project met all the necessary requirements of the relevant regulations.
He denied the Uppertons’ assertions that the application was the same as the earlier version, saying it was a redesign of the previously-refused planning application on the same land parcel, which had been changed to respond to the concerns of the CPA and the objectors.
He noted that the CPA had approved a number of other four-storey developments nearby on the waterfront at North West Point Road, such as Serrana, Sea Dreams and Dolphin Point.
The 1.6 acre site on North West Point Road is located opposite the intersection with Invicta Drive and north of West Bay Cemetery, and is zoned as ‘Beach Resort Residential’.
Claire Upperton, while presenting the objections she and her husband have to the application, raised concerns about traffic from the 32-unit complex entering or exiting North West Point Road at a “dangerous bend” in the road. She showed the planning board members a photo of a roadside memorial that has been placed near the proposed development, in memory of a motorcycle rider who was killed in a collision with a car at that section of the road on 2 May.
The Uppertons also argued that the development will severely impact their privacy, and described the proposed apartment blocks as “a blot on the landscape”.
They urged the CPA members to consider if they would want a development of this size erected next door to their own homes.
After outlining several of the issues they have with the proposed plan, Claire Upperton said, “After owning our home for 40 years, we remain devastated to be put in this position.”
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If the property is zoned appropriately and the developer is applying for something permitted under the zoning it’s kind of selfish for somebody who’s lived there for 40 years to want to maintain the status quo just for themselves, for their own personal benefit. The Upton‘s should have dug deep and bought the property when they had the chance or should satisfy themselves that progress moves forward. It’s cheap and smarmy to use the government to try to block something that is actually good for the country, for Personal enrichment
Clearly written by a developer. Whether continued development, and non-stop growth on a tiny island with little to no resources is “actually good for the country” is very arguable. No doubt it is good for the developers, but that does not automatically make it good for the country. To call these people “foolish” and “cheap and swarmy” for trying to maintain their status quo, and to keep the area they lived in for 40 years in the way they love and enjoy it, is extremely rude and disrespectful.