HIGHCLIFFE residents have not given up their fight to stop a four-storey retirement complex being built beside the village recreation ground.

Despite opposition from council planners who twice refused the scheme and local residents who packed a public inquiry in July to protest against the proposals, a government planning inspector last month allowed an appeal for a block of 55 sheltered flats on the site of four homes in Wortley Road.

Council and residents arguments over the scale of the building and its impact on the area were overruled by the inspector Colin Ball who said the proposals met latest government advice for maximising land use.

But residents are now petitioning Christchurch council to seek a High Court judicial review of the inspector's decision which they claim is flawed on several grounds.

The petition will be presented at the council meeting on Tuesday evening by Peter Martin, chairman of Highcliffe Residents Association, which co-ordinated the local campaign against the flats scheme.

He said: "We feel the appeal decision is wrong in fact, wrong in law, and wrong in case law."

Objectors claim the decision was based on inaccurate figures for the size of the site and argue the resulting density would be some 131 homes per hectare instead of the 120 units ruled acceptable by the inspector.

The petitioners also criticise the inspector for not following government guidelines and planning law regarding community involvement and ignoring the cumulative effect of the scheme on the area.

Mr Martin said: "Our concern in relation to Highcliffe is that we have the highest incidence of people over 60 in Christchurch which in turn has the highest number of people over 60 in the country."

"This scheme is scarcely leading to a balanced, vibrant population. In the terms the government likes to use, we don't feel it is a 'sustainable' development."

First published: September 8, 2005