FAILURE to correctly notify neighbours on plans to build another large house in a rural area has given them an opportunity to comment on the development once again.
An application by Duffy Homes to demolish Piccola on Quarry Lane, Kelsall, and replace it with a larger house and garage was opposed by residents and parish councillors, but approved by the city council planning board in January.
It has now been returned to public consultation stage because two neighbours were not informed by letter about the application. Parish councillors are worried that there are too many modern, large houses being built and have vowed to do all they can to reverse the original decision.
Cllr Noel Dutton, parish council chairman, said: 'We have taken the opportunity to apply for the building to be listed. It is one of the last wooden houses built for TB victims after the first world war. This is one of 27 similar applications outstanding in the village and we have applied to have the applications for the Persimmon development called in. We have also asked for them all to be assessed as one development. At the moment they are all considered in small lots but the cumulative effect on the village is huge.'
Cllr Dutton added that the parish council is against all new housing in Kelsall, except for affordable housing and sheltered accommodation.
City council planning officer Richard Gore is in charge of the ongoing applications in Kelsall and said it would be difficult to group applications together.
'The bottom line is they are separate applications and we have to determine each application on its own merits.
'We couldn't force them to make it one big application. But developers dividing up a wide area doesn't stop us from asking for contributions towards open space.'
Mr Gore added that when Kelsall parish councillors finish their Parish Plan and village design statement next year it will help determine Kelsall's individual needs.
'The difficulty is that at the moment we only have the development plan which applies equally to the city of Chester and rural areas like Kelsall. These applications were submitted before the moratorium on residential applications was imposed last July and at officer level the opinion is that it would be unreasonable to refuse these on housing supply grounds when they were received before the cut-off date.
He added: 'The Persimmon development at Swallow Drive was approved two or three years ago. The difficulty is that these proposals are very similar and policy hasn't changed at all so we cannot say they are now unacceptable.'
Comments on the application can be sent to: Development Control Service, Chester City Council, The Forum, Chester CH1 2HS, citing application number 04/01315/FUL
