AN INDEPENDENt planning inspector refused permission for a retirement home backed by neighbours and parish councillors.
The application was put forward at 1 New Cottages, Worthenbury Road, Shocklach by Mr and Mrs J Williams.
Mr and Mrs Williams told planning officers at Cheshire West and Chester Council they were seeking approval for the conversion of a storage building to create a home for their retirement.
Permission was refused and the couple appealed with inspector David Fitzsimon being appointed to decide their application.
The inspector says the building has a utilitarian appearance.
The alterations would radically alter its size and design to the extent it could not reasonably be described as a conversion scheme.
This was conceded by Mr and Mrs Williams.
The new house would be beyond the centre of the village in open countryside where new homes would not normally be permitted except for agricultural purposes.
Mr and Mrs Williams pointed out the scheme would enable them to retire within a village where they had lived for a significant period and would enable their daughter and her son to live in the house and return to Shocklach where they otherwise could not afford to live.
The local school would gain an extra pupil and the property itself would be built on previously developed land.
They suggested the home would look more attractive than the storage building.
Notwithstanding the benefits, including the support of neighbours and the parish council, the inspector concluded these did not outweigh planning policy and the appeal must fail.
