Home plan set to be refused

Plans for a new home in the Shropshire countryside have been recommended for refusal.

The proposal for a detached home and garage in Lee, near Ellesmere, have received “strong support” from the local parish council and no objections have been made.

But Shropshire Council has recommended the plan is refused because it does not comply with local development policy regarding its location close to a small cluster of homes nearby.

In his report to Shropshire Council’s North Planning Committee, Ollie Thomas, council officer, says: “The proposed development site, in replacement of an existing agricultural building, is considered to be located on the edge of the settlement of Lee, a designated community cluster.

“The type and form of development fails to comply with the specific settlement policy requirements, in that only limited infill and conversions will be acceptable.
“The proposed development cannot be considered as infill development due to its location and neither is the existing structure capable or worthy of conversion, with any residential development in this location having an adverse impact upon the character and setting of both the settlement and landscape.

“The proposed development is therefore considered as representing unsustainable development that fails to comply with local policies of the SAMDev Plan and also the main aims and objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework.”

It adds: “This application is a resubmission and constitutes the applicants ‘free-go’ following the recent refusal of the last application. It was refused for failing to comply with the Local Development Plan and providing insufficient information in regard to highway safety impacts.

“To which, the proposal has remained identical, albeit a slight variance.”

The development site lies to the east of Lea Hall Farm and in replacement of an existing modern portal framed agricultural building, located on the edge of the rural settlement of Lee, south of Ellesmere.

“The site is directly adjoined by the associated farmstead – part of which is Grade II listed – to the west, with open and undulating agricultural fields on all its other boundaries, with access to the site provided through an existing agricultural access directly off the A528, an unclassified derestricted section of highway leading from Lee to Spunhill.

Support has come from Ellesmere Rural Parish Council which said it “strongly supports” the application and Councillor Brian Williams, who said refusal would spark an appeal.

He said: “I consider the site is contiguous with the existing core of the centre of the settlement and should not be considered as being outside the settlement.

“So far as the housing target for the Lee cluster is concerned, there is still headroom within the target allocation and the conclusions that there would be harm to the sustainability of the countryside is a matter of opinion rather than demonstrable fact.

“These are all material matters which merit the consideration of the committee, especially as I would anticipate that there would be an appeal if the application is refused.”