Inspector overrules Telford & Wrekin Council's bungalow decision
A planning inspector has allowed bungalows to be converted into a supported living facility, overturning a council’s initial refusal.
Last year, Minster Developments Ltd applied to change the use of the five homes at Sampson Park, Madeley, and build an outbuilding for staff.
Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning department turned the bid down.
It approved of the supported living facility but thought the new structure and proposed landscaping was out-of-character.
But, in a decision notice published this week, government-appointed inspector Martin Seaton overturns the borough’s decision and allows the Nottinghamshire-based company’s development.
“The change of use, outbuilding and some of the landscaping scheme, including the fencing, has already been completed and, as a result, the application and appeal were made retrospectively,” Mr Seaton writes.
“The council concluded that the use of the building for supported living would be a compatible use with the surrounding residential area.
“Therefore, the main issue is the effect of the proposed development in relation to the outbuilding and the landscaping scheme.”
The five bungalows lie in a row.
Outbuilding
Blueprints submitted to Telford and Wrekin Council on behalf of Minster Developments director Richard Eden showed the existing five bungalows in a line, accessed via a lane at the east end of Coronation Crescent.
As part of the change-of-use, the company added an outbuilding with kitchen and toilet facilities, and a garden and outdoor seating area, screened by a wood pergola, in front of the bungalow at the east end of the row.
The Planning Inspectorate report continues: “It is evident that the outbuilding could not be located to the rear of the buildings because each has a separate garden which is itself relatively shallow.
“The building provides an on-site office for those providing care for all the occupants and, as a result, they could not be located within one of the resident’s gardens.
“There are few viable alternative locations for the outbuilding.
“The site is bounded by timber fencing which is typical of the area and not, therefore, uncharacteristic. Timber outbuildings are also common in residential areas and, whilst the location of the outbuilding is unusual, the materials used in its construction are not.”
The pergola would, in isolation, be an “uncommon” but in the context of the outbuilding and garden it is “an attractive addition”, Mr Seaton adds.
