Disabled woman’s parking area would ‘harm’ World Heritage Site

A husband’s bid to create a new parking area for his disabled wife have been turned down by council planners.

The householder’s home is in Coalbrookdale in the Ironbridge Gorge, where there are strict planning rules against developments of all kinds.

Planners at Telford & Wrekin Council wrote that they “acknowledged that the improved access would be beneficial to the applicant”.

But they determined that it would cause “harm to the Outstanding Universal Value of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site and Severn Gorge Conservation Area”.

The applicant’s property was described as a mid-terrace period cottage in Woodside and they had wanted to create a 2.5m-wide grasscrete, permeable driveway with paved 900mm-wide pedestrian path either side for disabled access.

They also wanted to relay the existing paved area accessing the front of the dwelling.

Planning agent Kevin Twigger, of Staffordshire-based KRT Associates Ltd, had told planners that the proposal would remove “approximately 40 per cent of the grassed area”.

The agent wrote that materials are “in keeping with the visual appearance of the surrounding cottages” and the selection of grasscrete for the driveway provides a “durable, well-drained aesthetically pleasing option than traditional asphalt or concrete driveways”.

“It is intended that the existing railings will be reused and converted to a horizontal sliding gate serving the driveway and left-side pedestrian path maintaining both security and aesthetic appearance. The existing pedestrian gate will be relocated to serve the right-side pedestrian path.”

The agent added: “The proposed changes are necessary to assist the applicant’s disabled wife to access the dwelling safely.

“Woodside is a narrow one-way lane with no opportunity for safe accessible on-street car parking for disabled individuals.

“The carefully designed proposals ensure that the visual and environment impacts are minimised whilst providing necessary adaptions to meet the disabled occupants’ needs to enhance their ability to live independently in their home.”

But planners disagreed, saying they consider that the proposal would mean the “partial loss of green amenity space and the subdivision of the historic frontage, disrupting the visual rhythm, cohesion, uniformity and character of the row of terrace and would be harmful to the character and setting of the building of local interest”.

The applicant has been told that they can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.