PLANNING officers at Warrington are recommending an extension be allowed to a Green Belt cottage after hearing of existing permitted development rights which would allow a bigger extension to be built.
However, approval would depend on the applicant giving a unilateral undertaking not to proceed with the permitted development. The two-bed cottage is in Dam Lane, Croft – and members of Croft Parish Council have objected to the proposal on the grounds it would amount to the overdevelopment of a Green Belt site.
A report to be considered by the borough council’s development management committee says the application is for a first-floor extension above an existing single-storey side extension. The site is in the Green Belt and is adjoined by large fields in agricultural use.
The extension would provide a third bedroom and ensuite. Officers say the development would be a disproportionate addition to the original building and would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt.
However, existing permitted development rights exist which would allow a two-storey rear extension which would have a bigger impact on the openness of the Green Belt. The applicant was prepared to make a unilateral undertaking not to go ahead with the permitted development and, subject to such an undertaking, this would amount to the extra special reasons to allow a development in the Green Belt.
In the event of the undertaking not being given within three months, planning consent could still be refused.
The committee will be asked to make a decision at their meeting on Thursday.
