Wellington bungalows plan refused due to 'over-development' concerns

Proposals were revealed in January for the homes behind the residential street of Holyhead Road in Wellington.

A new road was proposed to be built to provide access to the rear of the properties.

Telford & Wrekin Council rejected the plans on the grounds of over-development and ‘significant adverse harm’ to a protected tree.

The local authority also said that insufficient information had been provided around drainage of the site and access.

Four of the eight properties will also have a garage and utility along with an upstairs study/reading area.

“The dwellings should each be dormer bungalows to limit the prospect of overlooking or visual impact on adjacent properties,” applicant Alex Stone said.

Four letters of objection were sent to the council by local residents who raised concerns over over-development, access arrangements and lack of visibility onto Holyhead Road. Concerns regarding instability of the land, noise during construction and a loss of privacy also raised.

The council’s planning officer addressed some of the concerns when they said: “Notwithstanding the local planning authority’s concerns regarding the layout of the development, it is considered in this case no significant adverse impacts would occur upon neighbouring properties.”

Wellington Town Council also objected to the proposals on grounds of over-development of the site.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s drainage department objected, saying that proposals in their current form 'did not provide any treatment buffer to storm water runoff, in line with best practice’.

“The area is also known to suffer from boggy ground and water actively flowing from retaining walls,” concluded the drainage officer.

“A scheme of land drainage should be considered to mitigate the impact of potentially waterlogged gardens.”

The council’s highways officer also objected to the proposal commenting that the ‘visibility splay currently shown would be in third party land’.

Previously a plan for six homes was approved by Telford & Wrekin Council in 2022 – which has now expired.

However, the council said that the updated proposal resulted in a ‘more cramped appearance with plots of a reduced scale’.

The planning officer said that the plans would have a ‘significant detrimental impacts’ upon a protected tree and commented that there is limited space on site to accommodate any changes.

“The local planning authority consider that due to the site’s semi-rural appearance and the large number of trees and hedges being removed, more replacement planting would need to be introduced to ensure there is not a net loss of trees on site, and to ensure the proposal would be sympathetic to the character of the wider area.”

The planning officer concluded that plans would ‘fail to respect and respond positively to the character of the wider area and fail to represent an integrated development’

“The development would cause significant detrimental impacts upon a protected tree, causing harm to the amenity value the tree holds and its contribution to the wider character of the area,” the officer concluded.

“Further information is required to ensure that the site can be adequately accessed and drained.”