Telford butchers' retirement plans foiled as council rejects homes plan over sunlight concern

Mr and Mrs Wickstead had wanted to redevelop a site behind their butchers shop in Haybridge Road, Hadley, to build either three or four houses.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s planners rejected both plans saying that trees would block sunlight during the summer when the occupiers would expect to be out in their gardens.

The couple then lodged two appeals – one for each plan.

Now a planning inspector has agreed with the council and rejected both infill housing development proposals. The trees are not in their control, the inspector was told.

Agents for the couple had told the council that the Wickstead family have operated the butcher shop for more than 50 years, and are valued members of the local community.

“As part of their retirement plan, they are looking to redevelop the site. Currently, the site contains a selection of dated and impractical outbuildings, surrounded by residential development,” the agents had told the council.

Inspector Bhupinder Thandi visited the site at the end of July, issuing the two appeal rejections on September 12.

The inspector said: “The site is surrounded on three sides by established residential development.

“A belt of three sycamore trees sit beyond the site, but are located along its western boundary.“

The inspector said that during the spring and summer months “between 76 per cent and 100 per cent of plot 1’s garden would be in shade for long periods of the day and shading greater than 50 per cent of the garden would occur from midday until late afternoon and early evening”.

For the second appeal, the inspector said that during the spring and summer months between 76 per cent and 100 per cent of the garden would be in shadow for around three hours a day and 50 per cent or greater of the garden would be in shadow from midday until late afternoon.

The inspector said: “The proposed developments would not provide high-quality private outdoor amenity space suitable for a family use including sitting out, playing and socialising, on account of overshadowing from the sycamore trees, particularly so during much of the spring and summer when one would expect future occupiers to utilise their gardens more often.”

The inspector also told the appellants that information from the British Research Establishment which they used to support their case “is not planning guidance or adopted planning policy”.

The inspector concluded that “the proposed developments would fail to provide satisfactory living conditions for future occupiers on account of the shadowing effects upon garden areas.“

No technical objections were received to the proposals but the inspector said these did not lead to reaching a different conclusion in respect of the main issue.