‘Overdominant’ home extension plan refused by South Tyneside development bosses

A householder’s bid for a new home extension has been refused by council planners over fears it would be “incongruous, overdominant and out of character in the streetscene”.

Earlier this year, South Tyneside Council’s planning department registered an application for a property on Summerhill Road, in South Shields.

This included plans to construct a first floor side extension over an existing single-storey side extension as well as demolish an existing rear conservatory and build in its place.

But the bid was rejected by the local authority’s planning department, with a report by development chiefs claiming while the rear extension was acceptable, other aspects of the development would “result in significant harm to the visual amenity of the area”.

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Council planners said the proposed first floor side extension would appear “as an incongruous, overdominant and out of character feature in the streetscene and in relation to the pair of semi-detached dwellings of which it forms part”.

This conclusion, council planners said, was due to the development’s “substantial projection beyond the established building line on the eastern side of Summerhill Road, its scale and its hipped roof design”.

The report added the applicant was advised of concerns but “did not wish to amend the proposed scheme”.

Comments from the applicant’s agent, included in the decision report, stated the application should be ‘permitted’ on the basis that other similar extensions in South Shields had been granted planning permission.

However council planners said the examples were “some distance” from the application site and that “each site must be considered on its own merits”.

It is understood that the applicant has submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate challenging the council’s refusal decision.

An appellant statement, published on the council’s website, claims South Tyneside Council’s planning department “are not following a consistent interpretation of their own guidance” and that there are other approved extensions locally “which could be considered overdominant”.

The statement references extensions at a number of streets in South Shields which, it claims, clash with council policy around extensions “beyond any established building line”.

Arguments from the council planning department and appellant will now be considered by a government-appointed planning inspector.

An update on the case will be published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website once a decision has been made.