An appeal has been lodged with the Secretary of State after plans to build a three-bed detached bungalow in Tunley, near Bath, were refused.
In March, Bath & North East Somerset Council rejected the planning application to build the property with a garage on land south of Blossom Manor.
No information about the site’s ecology was submitted but it was described as an “overgrown garden” with the existing access on Palmers Lane also overgrown.
Blossom Manor is a detached three-bed two-storey house for which planning permission was recently granted for a rear two-storey extension. Permission was also granted for a detached bungalow to the west.
In refusing the proposal for the latest bungalow, council planners said it would be inappropriate development and did not constitute ‘Grey Belt’ land. They said there were no very special circumstances to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt.
They said the access would not be suitable based on the current national speed limit, and visibility splays of 215 metres in both directions would be required.
They also noted that applications for self or custom-build homes must now be accompanied by a Section 106 agreement or Section 106 unilateral undertaking, but no such legal document had been submitted.
They acknowledged that if a proposed speed limit change is introduced, any future decision would take account of reduced vehicle speeds. For a 20mph zone, 25 metres of visibility in both directions would need to be demonstrated.
The appeal says the council has incorrectly applied Green Belt policy by failing to recognise the site’s status as previously developed land and its alignment with the latest Grey Belt national policy.
It also highlights that the council’s traffic management team is proposing a 20mph zone for roads in Tunley.
The appellants say they are happy to sign the necessary unilateral undertaking.
The appeal also emphasises that, as the council is not currently able to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, the presumption is in favour of sustainable development as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
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