A BID to alter plans for 55 houses on land near North Hill Road in Siddington has been thrown out by district council planners following concerns about increased house heights.

At a meeting of Cotswold District Council’s planning committee on October 8 the application by Hunter Page Planning to extend the height of some of the houses from eight metres to 10 metres was discussed and rejected.

The applicant, Bloor Homes Western, sought to vary the conditions of their previous application to increase the size of some of the homes to be 2.5 storey buildings.

Cllr Clive Bennett, one of the members who represent the Water Park ward, brought the changes to the committee to be debated as he said he saw the plans as fundamentally changed from what was originally proposed and felt the need for the variations to be considered publicly.

The committee decided that making some houses taller would move too far away from the original consent, despite the planning officer recommending the plans be approved subject to a legal agreement with the developer.

Written objections from Siddington residents expressed concerns about the increased height and complained that the changes could lead to a loss of privacy for other nearby houses.

The Parish Council and residents living around the site also objected to a second application which would have given approval to reserved matters for the plans on the same site but this never made it to debate as they relied on the first application being passed.