Excerpt from a letter sent by a member of staff of the LPA to the developer:

It is my view that the erection of two large detached houses would be out of keeping with the adjacent bungalow and could well prejudice the amenities of neighbouring dwellings. It may be that a split level form of development or bungalow development would be more appropriate. I would also remind you that the density of development should reflect the advice in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 which refers to densities being in the order of 30 dwellings to the Hectare or 12 dwellings to the acre. In this regard your development is below the recommended standards set by Government, in fact 1 additional dwelling should be incorporated within the site to comply with the latest advice. If there are exceptional circumstances, for instance the tree and level problems and relationship with adjoining development and access consideration may be overriding. I do have to advise you however of this latest advice.

This is in sharp contrast to the plan policies and design guidance which suggest a harmonisation with surroundings, and in particular with the policies being proposed for the next local plan. Consider 2.40:

In general, residential densities of less than 30 dwellings per hectare (net) when averaged over larger developments are unlikely to be acceptable. It is expected that the revised policies which require less provision for parking may help in achieving these densities. It is likely that sites in town centres will be developed at generally higher densities than the greenfield allocations. On smaller sites containing individual dwellings and smaller groups of dwellings there is expected to be some variation in density in accordance with the requirements of the particular site concerned.

and (R)FBE.1

(R)FBE.1 The design and layout of new development whilst making the best use of available land , will be required to be compatible with its surroundings with respect to the character, building design, materials, scale, density and mass of existing development and the character of the surrounding landscape and land uses.

I will refrain from making detailed comment at this point, other than to say that this represents the essence of my complaint to the Ombudsman.