Plans for extension above car showroom refused

And whilst councillors are not ruling out the possibility of development with the newly submitted design, the general consensus is that as the plans stand they are simply 'not good enough' in design terms.

The lack of proposed parking spaces for the development was also a major concern under consideration, even though the developers argue that the property is in a town centre location with other alternative means of transportation available close by.

The developers now have no alternative but to go back to the drawing board, although Town Mayor, Cllr Patrick Douart claimed that the applicants, who have had previously submitted plans for the site refused on a number of occasions, have complained that they have not received any guidance regarding the design, from the council - even though they have asked for.

However, Chairman Bryan Kentfield said that whilst the council are supportive of the site being developed, designing plans are not the responsibility of the planning department.

He said: "It is not the purpose of the planning department to design plans for applicants. Our view is that this is a missed opportunity, which we have said in previous meetings with the applicants. This is an opportunity to design something that has sufficient presence and quality - which is up to their architect."

He added: "This current design doesn't hit the right note and is one of the worst designs I've ever seen."

Head of Planning Tim Hickling said: "We did have some suggested alternatives, but we need to put this aside and discuss further. We need a much better solution."