A council is set to roll out quirky homes designed with huge windows to help deter crime and anti-social behaviour.
Canterbury City Council (CCC) has showcased how massive dormers on the top floor of houses off Sturry Road are planned to encourage “passive surveillance”.
The authority hopes to build the futuristic-looking mini-estate on land once belonging to the now-demolished Sturry Road Social Club.
Equipped with “windows overlooking communal areas,” the 11 rented properties will form an L-shape, to “encourage chance encounters with neighbours,” according to official papers.
“The design evokes a working stable yard,” they add.
“Front patios provide space for residents to work and garden in a more communal setting.
“Moreover, this design motif encourages chance encounters with neighbours and passive surveillance of the site.”
The blocky veneers are a far cry from the typical styles in surrounding Reed Avenue and East Street, largely consisting of two-storey semi-detached homes.
But the authority’s architect, Bell Phillips, stresses the proposals “remove opportunities for anti-social behaviour without any hidden corners”.
In a detailed eight-point security plan, the firm highlights how low garden walls, grounded bicycle anchors and “shrubs maintained at a maximum one metre height” will help keep the area trouble-free.
Concluding why the authority wishes to build the affordable rent homes, papers say: “The scheme will bring a vacant site back into use, providing employment opportunities, and homes, enhancing the character and appearance of the site and surroundings.
“It will provide significantly enhanced levels of passive surveillance over the empty site.
“The scheme will create a building which is designed to be clearly of its place, referencing the local architectural context, but with a unique identity of its own.”
Neighbour Christine Barber, however, has voiced concern over being overlooked in a letter to the authority.
“Elderly residents in Elliot Close will need reassurance that there are no such windows to the rear of the proposed bungalows, as these would overlook the back of the retirement properties,” she wrote.
“The elderly and vulnerable residents of Elliot Close value their privacy and sense of security.”
CCC’s planning committee is set to make the final call at a meeting in the city’s Guildhall next Tuesday (July 22).
The authority’s planning chiefs are recommending that members vote to approve the development.
If plans progress, each home will have a private garden and an overhang before the front door.
Despite being bungalows, each property will also have an additional bedroom and storage area in the roof space.
The application continues: “The site will provide 11 new high-quality, much-needed affordable rent homes.”
