Rural holiday homes 'shorter than caravans' rejected over size concerns

In the summer, an application to build four holiday lets on the site of derelict dog kennels was submitted to Shropshire Council.

The plans stated that the owner had lived at the property, in Wootton near Oswestry, for five years and wanted to retire.

"In doing so, [they] wish to secure the future of the family home with converting some old derelict dog kennels into holiday lets," the application stated.

"The area has lots of tourist interest with beautiful Shropshire countryside and Oswestry being four miles north."

It was proposed that the four holiday lets would be family run and the application argued that the new buildings would "improve the outlook" for neighbouring houses by tearing down the dog kennels that "offer little in visual".

But Shropshire Council has now rejected the plans, arguing the properties would be "insufficient to comfortably accommodate any visitors".

It was planned that each unit would measure around 7m by 4.3m - which the planning officer pointed out was smaller than the standard length of a UK caravan - typically between 7.3m and 8m long.

The planning officer also ruled that the rural countryside location had "limited infrastructure" to support the holiday accommodation, and any "small economic benefits" were outweighed by the unsuitable location and size concerns.

The report concluded: "Overall this proposal represents unsustainable development. The proposed holiday accommodation is not of sufficient quality or living space available.

"The proposed development would not be in an accessible location served by a range of services and facilities and therefore would not be appropriately located."