Controversial plans for four new homes in Chiswell Green have been approved after a tight vote by St Albans Council's planning committee.

At a meeting of the Development Management Committee on September 2, councillors voted 6-4 in favour of an application to demolish a bungalow on Tippendell Lane to make way for for three new two-storey houses and a single-storey property.

The decision had been expected at last month's meeting, only for an administrative error in the report to cause a delay.

At last week's meeting, interested parties gave representations for and against, before councillors debated the plans which have divided opinion since being submitted earlier this year.

Speaking at the meeting, a resident said: "The proposal represents overdevelopment, is out of character with the area and adversely harms neighbours.

"The scheme is cramped, dense and dangerous."

Representing the developers, Warning Planning, Simon Warner said: "This high-quality development will make a positive development to this brownfield site.

"Existing and emerging policies encourage a 'brownfield first' approach to development."

David Yates, Chair of St Stephen Parish Council, urged councillors to vote against the plans because of their 'overbearing' nature, as well as road safety concerns, citing the case of a man in his 50s who died in a collision on the same stretch of  Tippendell Lane back in 2014.

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Ahead of the meeting, written objections had been received from 13 neighbouring addresses with concerns about the impact on the area and the St Albans Green Belt.

Despite this, the application was granted approval by a thin margin of 6-4, with no abstentions.

The meeting was held amid a backdrop of intense debate about housing in the district, with SADC announcing late last month that it intends to accelerate the publication of its long-awaited Local Plan in light of the recent election of a Labour government and expected changes to housing policy.