The Cottage, Northfields, Lansdown, Bath

The Cottage is an unlisted mid- to late 19th century detached house, formerly part of the Northfield Dairy, situated within the Bath Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. The dwelling is set back from Lansdown Road within a residential cul-de-sac along Northfields, formerly the track access to the dairy site across agricultural land which was subsequently built up through the 20th century. The site of the main dairy complex has been retained as the residential garden setting of The Cottage; the existing single storey outbuilding in the north-east corner proposed for demolition and redevelopment is likely to have formed part of the original late 19th century site and been used as part of the dairy. The character of the area is of a mid- to high residential grain, with large detached or semi-detached dwellings set back from the road within generous private gardens.

It is acknowledged that the proposed site of development would be situated on previously developed land where the northern boundary of the site was previously built up as part of the dairy. The site is well set-back from the main thoroughfare and is largely screened from Northfields by boundary planting along the western edge of the site. Development would therefore be expected to have a limited impact on public streetscape views and associated character, although the current screening tree to the north of the entrance gate would be removed to create two new off-street parking spaces.

We take this opportunity to emphasise the need to ensure that adequate residential amenity is secured as part of the proposed development, including the provision of suitable private garden space proportionate to the scale and residential capacity of the proposed 3-bed dwelling. There are some initial concerns regarding the overly cramped location and positioning of the building up against the north-west corner and an awkward interaction with the existing building. Areas of the site, such as the strips of land to the east and south surrounding the new dwelling would be tightly constrained between the new dwelling and the adjoining development at the tennis club and as such would be of limited use or amenity to occupiers. The use of a vehicle turntable on the site is also indicative of the restrictive qualities of the development site.