Concerns over house plan next to former Telford pub

Oliver Hardy Homes Ltd has applied to build a dormer bungalow in Ketley Bank, uphill from the former Rose and Crown pub.

Telford and Wrekin Council officers recommended approval and, in a report for the borough’s planning committee, pointed out that the Oakengates-based developer had applied to build a two-storey house on the same site but withdrew this last year following advice it would be “overbearing” to neighbouring homes.

Oakengates Town Council objected to the bungalow plans, saying the loss of trees “will change the characteristic of the site” and a new home there would create “substantial difficulties for access and egress from the site”.

The planning committee is due to meet via conference call on Tuesday.

The report before them says: “The application site is situated on Sunnyside Road, just off Holyhead Road.

“The site is situated south of the former Rose and Crown on an elevated section of land above the former car park.”

Three homes are currently under construction on land that formed the pub’s car park, it adds. If approved, the bungalow’s driveway would be next to theirs.

Oakengates Town Council discussed the application when it met in early March.

Its statement to the planning department says: “Councillors expressed concern the plans submitted would create over-development on the site and substantial difficulties for access and egress from the site.

“Trees are currently being removed from the site that were, historically, part of the Green Network, and the loss of this green space has an impact on neighbouring properties and will change the characteristic of the site.”

The town councillors unanimously agreed to “call-in” the application, requiring it to be discussed by the Telford and Wrekin Planning Committee.

The planners’ report says the trees are on private land and not covered by any protection order, so the council cannot prevent them being cut down, and the applicant proposes replacement trees and landscaping work which “would be an enhancement to the site as it currently stands”.

It adds that the proposed access is “of a suitable size to accommodate access for emergency vehicles” and adding one home to Sunnyside Road “would not cause any significant harm” for road users.

Last year, Oliver Hardy Homes Ltd was granted planning permission for three houses on the Rose and Crown car park.

A separate application by the company, to demolish the former pub and build eight houses on the site, was submitted in February and has not been decided yet.