Housing development proposed for vacant Balmoral Road plot

The now-empty plot in Balmoral Road, by the train tracks, is the site for a planning application seeking permission to build six four-bedroom homes.

It was formerly occupied by 19 garages, two accessed from Bradshaw Road and 17 accessed from Balmoral Road, but these were demolished in 2017.

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The site in 2017. (Image: Google Street View)

A plan to build nine two-bedroom flats there was granted approval that year but the work did not go ahead. Instead, a separate proposal for 12 flats was submitted in 2019 but this was ultimately withdrawn.

Since then, the land has been out-of-use and covered up by hoarding - with no concrete plans for its future following the expiry of the initial permission in 2020.

The site in 2021. (Image: Google Street View)

The latest plans, for six three-storey terraced homes with pitched roofs, was added to the Watford Borough Council planning portal yesterday (September 17). If approved, the project would apparently be delivered within five years.

Each property would have a small front and larger rear-garden. One existing parking space would be retained while the rest of the proposal is “effectively car free”.

How the proposed homes would look. (Image: Watford Borough Council planning portal/Stephen Taylor Architects)