COUNCILLORS threw out a bid to build flats near Dorking railway station after one described the design as looking like the Tardis.
The scheme for nine flats to replace garages on Lincoln Road was rejected by Mole Valley District Council's planning committee last Thursday.
Councillors refused Andrew Pirt's application, saying planning policy advises commercial property should not be given up for housing before being marketed for an alternative commercial use first.
Talking about the design of the flats, Councillor Margaret Cooksey said: "I think it's hideous, absolutely hideous, and I really don't agree with having those balconies. They do not fit that street scene. Looking at them against those houses – it just doesn't match. I totally understand why the local residents would prefer having housing of some sort, but I'm sure they would probably prefer not to have something that looks like a Tardis with ironwork on the side."
Council officers had recommended the application for approval after receiving a letters of support from the Lincoln Road Residents Association.
Speaking at last Thursday's meeting at Pippbrook, the council's development control manager Gary Rhoades-Brown said: "It is in the planning balance. Residents feel that by changing the site from an industrial to residential use, they see that as planning gain. It is unusual for modern-type developments like this to get that support. We felt that given that residents are comfortable with it at the end of the road that did have some weight."
But Mrs Cooksey responded: "Members are not in a position to say what they feel about planning policy. It is not something we can take on balance. We either set these rules and abide by them or we take them out. We may not just use them when we feel like it.
"The fact that there's another ugly building on the other side of road – well two wrongs don't make a right."
Councillor John Northcott added: "There is no evidence that this has been marketed for commercial use. If there was evidence that this had happened I might have taken a different view.
"If there wasn't the option of placing an employment site here there would still a problem with the height of the development."
The most recent industrial occupants of the garage there have vacated the premises, having moved to a site in Station Road more suitable to their needs. The building is currently used only for storage.
