A ROW has blown up over the redevelopment of former York coach houses into three new homes.

Fishergate councillors and residents have spoken out after more of the Victorian buildings off Fulford Road were demolished than was allowed under original planning permission for their conversion.

A fresh application has been submitted to City of York Council to make the changes.

A local resident asked the authority whether a penalty could be imposed, saying the retrospective application "seems wrong", but an official replied: “Unfortunately there isn’t, as it’s not a listed building. They have retained a number of the original features which will be repaired and reused on the building and it will be rebuilt in the same form but we can’t take any action against them.”

Cllrs Andy D’Agorne said he had asked the planning enforcement department to investigate and, if necessary, issue a stop notice to prevent any work in breach of consent, adding: “It is important that developers are aware there could be severe penalties for unauthorised work in breach of planning consent.”

Cllr Dave Taylor said he wanted to see appropriate development of the site, recognising its history, but the proposal gave him too many concerns for residents’ well-being.

A council spokeswoman said it was considering an application and a case officer had visited and given advice to a neighbour. “A decision on the application is expected before the end of the month,” she added.

Developer Michael Hammill said a retained wall had simply been demolished for safety reasons, and all the bricks and windows had been salvaged to be used in the re-building.

“We have gone to great lengths to retain existing walls and salvaged materials so that this site can be redeveloped in accordance with the planning consent and meet current building regulations.”

He said the new application was almost a carbon copy of the previously approved scheme, other than a change from "conversion of coach houses" to "part conversion and rebuild".

He added that neighbours and councillors had not approached him to ascertain the facts, which he found "astounding".