A DECISION on whether to allow 58 retirement apartments to be built in Portishead has been delayed.

Churchill Retirement Living hopes to build the flats along with parking and landscaping at the former Grange Farm site off High Street.

At a meeting of North Somerset Council’s north area committee on April 7, councillors recommended the plans be refused due to the density of the planned buildings and an apparent lacking of parking offered in the scheme.

The proposals were passed to the more senior planning and regulatory committee for consideration on June 8.

However, because the council did not make a decision within the standard 13-week time limit, Churchill Retirement Living lodged an appeal on the grounds of non-determination.

This means a hearing will be held in September, when a planning inspector will make the final decision.

In the meantime, the company intends to submit a new, identical planning application to North Somerset Council in the hope it will be approved by the end of July or beginning of August, meaning the appeal hearing will not need to be held.