Ben Davies had already started erecting the staircase at the property in Pontypool despite not having planning permission to do so
A view looking down the garden at Manor Road, Abersychan(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
A homeowner in south Wales has been ordered to tear down a large timber fence and staircase leading from a terraced street to a steeply sloped back garden.
Ben Davies had already started erecting the staircase at the property at Manor Road in Abersychan, Pontypool, despite not having planning permission to do so.
Following an investigation Torfaen County Borough Council told him he had to take it down. Mr Davies took the matter to the Welsh Government via appeal but he’s now lost that appeal.
The staircase includes a raised platform 2.7 metres above a narrow, private access lane between two homes on the street and leads to their back gardens.
The staircase was intended to replace the original stone staircase leading through the large, tiered garden that rises to the street above.
The new staircase and one metre long and four metres wide platform, partially enclosed by a two metre high timber fence, was dismissed by the council as “overbearing and unneighbourly” by council planning officers who refused planning permission for the structure in November last year.
Mr Davies responded by appealing that decision to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, which sent independent inspector Nicola Gulley to view the staircase.
But she agreed with the council and upheld the refusal, saying in her report the staircase and fence would have a harmful effect on Mr Davies’ own home as well as his neighbours.
Ms Gulley said: “The proposed development would have a harmful effect on the character and appearance of the appeal dwelling and on the living conditions of the occupiers of the neighbouring property.”
As such Ms Gulley said the structure was at odds with the council’s planning policy as it failed to take account of the local context in its appearance and would have an unacceptable impact on the amenities of those living in neighbouring homes.
Mr Davies had argued the staircase and supporting platform was “a proportionate response to a constrained, steeply sloping site with long-established changes in ground level”.
He disputed it would cause harm to the character of the area or his neighbours’ living conditions, and suggested conditions could control any adverse impacts.
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