“Garage plan would harm conservation area”

A GOVERNMENT-appointed planning inspector threw out an appeal against the refusal of planning consent for a single garage and new vehicle access at The Coach House, in Brookfield Road Lymm.
He ruled that the development would have a materially harmful effect on the character and appearance of the Eagle Brow Conservation Area
But the inspector, Mark Caine, said he had been made aware that a more recent planning application in respect of the site had been granted permission.
However, he had not been provided with the approved drawings and so could not make a direct comparison between the two schemes. He had, in any case, considered the appeal proposal based on its own merits alone.
The appeal related to plans for the demolition of an existing double garage at the Coach House, a former coach house which had been converted to a dwelling and shared a vehicle access with The Gables, Brookfield Road. When the inspector visited the site, the double garage had already been demolished and the single garage was already under construction.
He said the creation of a new access point would significantly disrupt a long section of limestone walling, with vegetation above, which was a distinctive feature of the road.
The prominence of the proposed garage and its impact would be exacerbated by having two access points in close proximity to each other, opening up views of the garage from the street. As such, the development would fail to preserve the character and appearance of the conservation area.
Mr Caine noted that the subsequent planning application which had been approved included alterations to access arrangement to create independent driveways to “The Gables” and “The Coach House.”