A PLANNING battle could have ended after a bid to build extensions at a 19th century Winchester home was withdrawn.

The proposal, for 10 Compton Road, would have seen a two-storey front and a single-story side extension built, and was also seeking retrospective planning permission for a boundary wall.

It had been due to be heard by Winchester City Council’s planning committee on Thursday, January 10, but was withdrawn just days before.

It was unclear whether the pans will be resubmitted in an amended form.

The scheme attracted a combined total of more than 120 objections to both the original and recently amended designs, with a number of prominent Wintonians putting their names against it.

William Carver, of neighbouring Christchurch Road, wrote to planners: “I believe that this application is out of keeping with the Conservation Area and that it would be a visible affront to it.

“The plot has been subdivided without permission contrary to local plan policy and overdeveloped; the design takes no account of the privacy of neighbours or the nature of its location; the appeal to historical precedent is flimsy in the extreme.

“There is no point in having Conservation or local plans if they are ignored, and to allow this application would be a dreadful precedent which I personally have not elected the council to create.”

Meanwhile, Lady Angela Stansfield Smith, widow of award-winning county council architect Sir Colin Stansfield Smith, said: “As the widow of the last Hampshire county architect, I have had a considerable interest in the planning of Winchester and have been an active member of the [City of] Winchester Trust for many years.

“The proposed new plan is totally unacceptable; the design is obtrusive to all, out of scale with the surrounding properties, and filling the whole site right up to the boundary of no. 12 (increasing the building’s footprint fourfold).”

However, the scheme was backed by more than a dozen letters.

Tom Romita, owner of Tom’s Deli, in St George’s Street, wrote: “I fully support the proposals which are very well thought out and will add positively to the area.”

Twyford residents Nicola and Simon Peck added: “As developers who frequently face this sort of objection by neighbours who rightfully might be frightened of change and have therefore rallied support (as is their right), one can’t deny the facts – this is a beautifully located brown site, with a modest building being repurposed as a 21st century home.”