PLANNING chiefs at Warrington are to inspect a newly built house after being told that it has a different appearance and is of a different size to the original planning consent given six years ago.
Members of the borough council’s planning committee will visit the site in Mustard Lane, Croft before deciding whether or not to approve a retrospective planning application.
Objections have been received from a neighbour and from Croft Parish Council who believe if the development is now approved it will undermine planning in a Green Belt area by making legitimate a development that had no planning consent.
“Effectively, the developer will have built to a design not originally considered by the borough council, the parish council and other consultees, which would include most importantly, residents of the area,” the parish council states.
The neighbour says: ”I strongly object to the retrospective planning consent and believe it contravenes my own enjoyment of the Green Belt.”
Councillors were told that in 2009 plans for a two storey dwelling to replace an existing house were approved but never implemented.
The house that now been built was about 40 per cent larger than the original dwelling but only three per cent larger than the house approved in 2009.
While the design of the house differed from the one approved in 2009, it more accurately reflected the appearance of the original dwelling.
While the house represented inappropriate development in the Green Belt as it was materially larger than the original building on the site, it did not significantly impact on the openness of the Green Belt when compared with the house approved in 2009. As a result, this was considered to comprise very special circumstances outweighing any harm caused by inappropriateness.
As such, officers recommended the retrospective application be approved.
But committee members decided to visit the site before reaching a decision.
Pictured: The house in Mustard Lane
