‘Self-build’ home would be on wrong side of hedge – inspector
A plan for one ‘self-build’ home on the other side of a hedge from a housing development has been rejected by a planning inspector because it would ‘harm’ the character of the area.
Applicant H. Atwal had appealed to the Planning Inspectorate after Telford & Wrekin Council rejected a second attempt to build on land adjacent to Homecroft, off Cheshire Coppice Lane, in Admaston.
Wrockwardine Parish Council had objected because the area is “seeing a significant increase in residential developments” and the proposal could “set a precedent for even more development, which is of much concern to residents".
Planning inspector U P Han found during site visit that Cheshire Coppice Lane is an unmade track with hedgerows on both sides.
“Within this context, despite the site’s adjacency to Homecroft and its proximity to dwellings in Jockey Meadow, the site and the surrounding area retains a strong rural character,” the inspector wrote.
“The field’s undeveloped nature reinforces the sense of openness and contributes to the countryside character of the surrounding area.”
The inspector ruled that the home would introduce built development into a largely uniform, open field, disrupting the visual cohesiveness and rural character of the site and the surrounding area.
The applicant had said that there are many more developments being proposed in the area under an updated local plan. But the inspector said that as that had not been approved it could only be given ‘limited weight’.
The inspector recognised that the scheme would bring benefits but that these would be “insufficient, in this case, to outweigh the harms identified".
The inspector was told that the council accepted there was a shortfall of ‘self-build’ homes in the borough. But there was no legal agreement to enforce this as a condition. And in any event it would not be enough to alter the inspector’s conclusion ‘given the harms identified'.
The inspector concluded that the “proposal would dilute the clear visual edge of the settlement and erode the rural character of the lane and the surrounding area".
