Plans for a bungalow to be built in the rear garden of a Church Lawton property, which received 20 objections, have been refused.

Full planning permission was sought by Alastair Melton, of White Horse Developments, to erect a two-bedroom bungalow within the rear garden of 53 Liverpool Road West, Church Lawton.

The proposal included a new vehicular access off Liverpool Road West, which would run between the dwellings at 51 and 53 Liverpool Road West (the existing garage at 53 Liverpool Road West would be demolished). Two off-street parking spaces would be provided.

An application by Mr Melton for the erection of a detached dwelling on the same land was withdrawn in November.

Church Lawton Parish Council objected to the latest application for the following reasons:

- The proposed development appears to be too close in proximity to existing properties to the extent that it will be invasive and lead to a loss in privacy.

- The council feels that this is not 'infill' along a ribbon development and is therefore garden development and intrusion into the greenbelt.

- Moreover, approving this application could lead to other similar applications resulting in a more severe gradual creep into greenbelt.

- The width of the access road appears quite narrow. The parish council questions if the width is sufficient for emergency vehicles, refuse collection and deliveries or whether there will be increased parking on the busy Liverpool Road West increasing the likelihood of accidents.

- The parish council has concerns that the parking provision of the development will be insufficient, again leading to an increase of parking on Liverpool Road West.

- It should be noted by Cheshire East Planning that during the building phase of a nearby new properties on this road recently, there were significant problems resulting from the building contractors parking along Liverpool Road West. This resulted in several complaints to the parish council.

- The style of the proposed building is out of character with the surrounding properties and will not 'fit in' with other nearby properties.

Letters of objection were submitted from 19 local households and included the following concerns:

- The resubmitted plans for a bungalow to do not address the concerns from the previous application.

- Invasion of privacy for the neighbours.

- Creation of a precedent for backland development.

Daniel Evans, a Cheshire East Council planning officer, felt the erection of a dwelling to the rear of the plot would not be "in keeping with the pattern, character and appearance" of Liverpool Road West and would result in a "piecemeal form of tandem development".

Mr Evans added: "The proposal would introduce development in depth into an area where the established form of development is a line of dwellings facing the street and where there is no built development to the rear, rather an open aspect of back gardens and, fields beyond.

"If erected, the proposed development would thicken the footprint of built development within this area and erode the sense of openness and space provided by the existing development."

Mr Evans acknowledged that the bungalow would be "to some degree masked from views" by being behind the existing dwellings.

But he highlighted that did not mean that those passing the site would be "unaware" that development had taken place in the rear part of the back garden.

The existing rear garden was unusual in its shape according to Mr Evans and the dwelling would be sited 0.9m at its nearest point from the boundaries with 55 and 57 Liverpool Road West with 4m to the boundary with the agricultural land.

Mr Evans continued: "The dwelling would appear cramped within this irregular shaped site."

Cheshire East refused the application because the site lied within the infill boundary line and the green belt.

However, the design was also considered to be "unacceptable" and would result in a "cramped and contrived form of backland development" which "detracts from the pattern, character and form of the locality".