Plans to turn old pigsty into bungalow rejected by council
A former pigsty will not be converted into a bungalow after refit plans were rejected by the council and a planning inspector.
The disused agricultural building stands on a one-acre plot on the east side of Bluebell Lane, in the Charlton area of Telford, next to the Tiddiecross Lane junction.
Landowner John Wesley’s proposal to renovate and extend it to create a one-bedroom home was refused by Telford and Wrekin Council last November, and this month his appeal against that decision was dismissed.
A planning inspectorate decision notice acknowledges that the project would add to the area’s housing stock, but notes that the borough’s Local Plan discourages new building in rural areas and says the proposal is out of keeping with the area.
A statement, submitted by Shrewsbury-based planning agent David Humphreys on behalf of Mr Wesley last year, said: “The site is extensively composed of tree, shrub and scrub vegetation in neglected condition, the slight remains of hardstanding and the derelict remains of a mid-20th-century brick building, the function of which appears to have been for livestock uses.”
The plans, Mr Humphrey added, gave an opportunity to “manage a neglected site, improving local green infrastructure” and create “appropriate, suitable, available and achievable local accommodation in a highly-desirable location.”
The planning inspectorate report says the issues in the appeal were the suitability of the site for residential development and the potential effect it would have on the area.
It notes that Telford and Wrekin’s 2011-2031 Local Plan “strictly controls” new homebuilding in most rural areas. Some exceptions apply, for example for conversions of existing buildings, but the report says “the proposed house would be considerably bigger than the pigsty, which would largely be subsumed” so it would not fulfil that definition.
The Local Plan also allows development where a “specific local need” exists, but the report none has been identified and one single home would “not outweigh the objection in principle to development of open-market housing in a rural area”.
The report also says the proposed design clashes with the “local vernacular of traditional cottages” and its construction would mean losing an “open, undeveloped” plot that contributes to the area’s rural setting.
