好色先生TV

A controversial planning application by the sustainability body BRE to build housing on its headquarters site near Watford has been rejected for a 鈥渓ack of sustainability鈥�.

BRE has been trying to build homes on its Bricket Wood site near Watford for over a decade. It had an application for development turned down by the secretary of state in 2001 amid concerns over transportation, and withdrew another application in July last year for similar reasons.

Last month, the latest application, which was for up to 100 homes, angered a local residents鈥� association, which was unhappy with BRE鈥檚 plans for transport to the site, including a new bus service, which it argued could not be sustained.

It was also unhappy about plans to cut down some of the trees on the site. Planning officers at St Albans council had recommended that the plans be approved, on the condition that BRE contribute nearly 拢1m in section 106 payments towards education, transport and community facilities. But last Thursday, six of the eight councillors on the St Albans planning committee voted against the plans and two abstained.

Geoff Turner, chair of the planning committee, said there was a 鈥渓ack of sustainability鈥� in the plans. He said: 鈥淭he committee thought that the site didn鈥檛 perform well against sustainability criteria. It would put a lot more pressure on schools and create more traffic.鈥�

He added that despite the planning report running to over 100 pages there was not enough detail on how the development would meet the council鈥檚 sustainability aims.

A BRE spokesman said the planning committee had not questioned the sustainability of the scheme but rather the site鈥檚 location. He said the council鈥檚 officers had recommended the application be approved.

鈥淚t was a surprise when committee members rejected that advice and refused the application,鈥� he said.

He said BRE would now look closely at the reasons given for the refusal before making a decision on their next steps.