Published: May 27, 2009
Plans to turn former public loos into bungalows are rejected

Plans to turn a block of former public loos into two new bungalows in Burnham-On-Sea have been thrown out by district council planners.

The owners of the building in Hall Terrace, off Seaview Road, had requested full planning permission to convert the property into one bedroom homes, as reported here last month.

But while the Town Council's planning committee passed the application without any observations earlier this month, the application has now failed to win the approval of Sedgemoor District Council's planning department, which has the final decision.

Case Officer Chris Gomm has sited parking problems at the site and environmental policy behind his decision not to give the proposals the go-ahead.

He said: "The application site is located within Flood Zone 3 which is land at high risk from flooding. Permission is sought for two dwellings, which are categorised as a 'More Vulnerable' form of development under our Planning Policy. Development categorised as 'More Vulnerable' is not permissible in Flood Zone 3 unless there is no alternative land for such a development reasonably available in Flood Zones 1 and 2."

The toilets were shut in April 2007 amid vandalism and anti-social behaviour and never re-opened despite pressure from town councillors and tourism bosses, who argued that more public loos are needed in Burnham.