A family is set to be ordered to take down their £6,000 decking because it’s been deemed as being 'too ugly'.
Jamie Davies, 38, is expected to lose an appeal to preserve his ‘unsightly’ deck area, which spans over 44ft and upwards of 16ft from street level, in the garden of his family home.
The sports centre manager built the huge structure on top of a towering steel frame in order to allow his family a secluded in their sloping outdoor space in south Wales.
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Jamie said the decking was built in order to allow ‘privacy for the children while they play’.
However, the dad did not apply for planning permission for the outdoor seating area which covers a sloped side of the house’s detached garden.
Now, Jamie’s backdated application for planning permission looks like it will be refused as council planners dubbed the porch as ‘an unduly dominant feature’.
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The homeowner applied for the retrospective authorisation for the decking area two years prior, with planners having dubbed the works as ‘unsightly’ and ‘setting an undesirable precedent.’
“The application is not significantly different to that previously refused by the planning committee and the planning inspector,” Joanne White, the planning officer said.
Instead, the officer explained that there are ‘other ways’ to maximise garden space.
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“I do not consider this is a reason in which to allow an unacceptable development.”
White now believes that planning permission should be denied as the outdoor area is ‘an unduly dominant feature’ that has an unpleasant visual ‘impact upon the street scene'.
The local council of Blaenau Gwent will be discussing the plans at an upcoming meeting, where they will decide on the future of the family’s decking area.
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Back in 2020, the planning committee considered a different application from Jamie to keep the same oversized deck. However, they called the garden area ‘unsightly’ and also added that it was welcoming the likelihood of ‘similar structures throughout the estate’.
Cllr Bernard Willis called the decking 'the most appalling thing I have ever seen in my life' in the Blaenau Gwent council planning committee meeting, according to South Wales Argus.
He said: “If that was being built near my house I would be appalled.
“I think it is a dreadful thing to be looking at and in my view, we should not be approving this application.”
Gabriella Ferlita