A HOMEOWNER has been told the outbuilding at the front of a Grays property built without planning permission is unacceptable reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
A retrospective application was lodged with Thurrock Council for a 6 metre by 4 metre flat-roofed outbuilding at the front of 1 Tasker Road is “visually intrusive”.
The application, on a prominent corner spot, also seeks permission to build a front extension to the home and to increase the height of front wall brick pillars and include metal railings.
Planning officers the site has a “high level of visibility from multiple public viewpoints, including both immediate and wider streetscape perspectives”.
The proposed 2.5 metre single storey front extension was found to be “modest in scale and appropriately designed” and “maintains a subservient relationship to the host property and sits comfortably within the built form. Planning officers added: “Given its scale and siting, the extension would not appear overly dominant or result in visual harm to the street scene.”
Proposals to change the boundary wall were also “considered acceptable” and “would provide a degree of symmetry with the existing northern boundary and are of a form and appearance that are compatible with the host dwelling and the wider streetscape.”
However, refusing the outbuilding, which is being used for storage and a gym, planning officers said: “Its scale and massing are substantial for a front garden setting and appear disproportionate in the context of the host dwelling and the surrounding area.
“The built form occupies a significant portion of the frontage, leading to a noticeable loss of openness which is otherwise characteristic of similar corner plots within the locality.”
They added: “Overall, the outbuilding represents an uncharacteristic and visually intrusive form of development that diminishes the quality and character of the site and its surroundings.
“Its prominence, scale, and siting result in harm to the visual amenity of the area, and the structure does not integrate acceptably with the established layout, form, or appearance of the local street scene.”
Thurrock Council may now seek approval enforcement action.
