PLANS to demolish bungalows next to York Racecourse to make way for 60 retirement apartments are set for refusal. 

A report to City of York Council planning committee raises fears the development would “harm” the area’s appearance and historical value.

Gladman Retirement Living has applied to use the land in Cherry Lane, opposite the Holiday Inn - home to three bungalows.

The developer expressed hopes of transforming the site into a 60-bed extra care living complex with its own restaurant, hair salon, activities suite, treatment centre and mobility scooter hub.

Access to the site would be from further down Cherry Lane with 36 parking spaces - including four disabled bays - for residents.

The application says there is a critical need for these types of homes in York - where older people can live independently but with extra support if they need it.

But the committee received 22 letters of objection in relation to the proposals with concerns over the “excessive height and scale of building”, overdevelopment, congestion issues and that “views of Knavesmire would be blocked”.

Locals also fear the plans would lead to urbanisation and “a tunnelling effect” due to being “too close to Tadcaster Road”.

Meanwhile York Civic Trust said it did not support the application in its current form, criticising the building’s design.

The trust said: “The scale and height threatens to detract from and jar with the listed buildings opposite and surrounding and would be imposing and uncharacteristic of the conservation area that it bounds.”

The report to the planning committee also notes the nearby “numerous heritage assets” - including the possibility of Roman archaeology yet to be unearthed on the site.

The site sits within the Tadcaster Road Area of Archaeological Importance, close to the Roman road and within a 100m of a known Roman cemetery.

A decision will be made at a planning committee meeting, held by City of York Council, on September 2, 2021.