Plans for a $7 million community of townhouses in West Bay will not be going ahead after the Central Planning Authority refused permission for the build.
It said the 2.6-acre plot on Lindy’s Walk is not a suitable location because the narrow, winding roads leading up to it would not be able to support the likely increase in traffic.
The public and private streets are heavily used, the authority wrote in its decision, and already struggle with traffic congestion and conflicts between passing vehicles.
“The additional traffic generated both during construction and occupancy of the proposed apartments using this road system will exacerbate the existing conditions,” it said.
The authority added that this will negatively affect the public safety and amenity of the area and detract from the quality of life of the existing residents living along the road system.
‘Problematic’
The complex was set to include 34 townhouses with 71 parking spaces, and access was designed to be through a series of roads that link to Watercourse Road.
COE Group presented plans for the homes, two pools, a fence, gate and cabanas to the authority on Wednesday, 12 April. The decision was published in the minutes on 27 April.
The Department of Planning, in its analysis of the plans detailed in the meeting agenda, discussed the suitability of the access roads.
It mentioned as potential problems the narrow width along with twists and turns.
“It would appear that the road network will be problematic during construction and also once the proposed project is complete,” the department wrote.
The National Roads Authority, in its analysis, cautioned the planning authority on approving a multi-family development where a portion of an access road is less than 15 feet wide.
According to its estimates of anticipated traffic at peak times, the NRA said it considers the impact of the proposed development as “moderate”.
An ‘atrocity’
West Bay residents also voiced their reservations over plans, with one describing the project as “absolutely appalling”, while another said the winding roads “makes it very dangerous”.
“This can’t be approved. I find it absurd that anyone could find this a good idea,” the resident said, adding that they object deeply to the project that they called an “atrocity”.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environment said the site consists of primary dry shrubland and forest along with some previously modified land which has some additional growth.
It said these habitats offer “valuable ecological services and benefits” such as privacy screening, low-cost landscaping, shade, storm water management, and drainage.
They also provide a habitat for endemic wildlife, help to cut back on carbon emissions and create wildlife corridors.
“Primary habitat is in severe decline and becoming a scarce and highly threatened resource as a result of land conversion for human uses,” the department wrote.
It questioned the need to convert more areas of valuable habitat for apartments “at this time for this use”.
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