A REFUSAL to allow a bungalow to be built on land behind an existing house due to road safety concerns has been upheld following an appeal.
Craig Senior was refused planning permission for the bungalow which would have been built on land at the back of number 65 Main Road, Portskewett.
He appealed to Welsh planning body Planning and Environment Decisions Wales which sent independent inspector Anthony Thickett to view the narrow track that was proposed as an access from Main Road to the bungalow.
He concluded Monmouthshire County Council was right to refuse planning permission and wrote in his report: “I note the site is within walking distance of a number of facilities but the proposed development would inevitably lead to an increase in the use of an access which is substandard with regards to its width and visibility to Main Road.
“For these reasons, I conclude that the proposed development would have an adverse impact on highway safety.”
Mr Thickett said the track already serves nine properties, including number 65, and a field though four properties have drives on to main road and he thought a further off street parking space has been created but said: “From my observations, the occupiers of at least five properties (not counting No. 65) actively use the track to access garages and parking spaces to the rear of the houses.”
He described its visibility at the access to Main Road as “poor in both directions” with a wall and telegraph pole to the east and a wall to the west while a line of parked cars either side of the track “limited visibility even further”.
As the track isn’t wide enough for vehicles to enter and exit at the same time Mr Thickett said traffic waiting to turn in would restrict the “free flow” of traffic on Main Road and stated: “Drivers approaching the track would have little warning of vehicles exiting the track and vice versa.”
He also said vehicles turning left, from the track, to pass a vehicle waiting to enter the track, would have to cross on to the wrong side of the road, due to the line of parked cars.
Mr Thickett also said he didn’t believe widening the track to provide a footway would overcome the poor visibility to Main Road.
