THE Planning Inspectorate in Bristol has dismissed a Melksham couple’s appeal against Wiltshire Council’s refusal to let them build four terraced houses in part of the garden of their home.

Paul and Sawsan Williams had first applied to build the three-storey properties and spaces for nine vehicles in June 2017.

Wiltshire Council refused the planning application in August. Melksham Without Parish Council also objected to the scheme.

The couple want to build three two-bedroomed homes and one three-bedroomed home on land south of their home at 489A Semington Road, Melksham.

Their planning application was turned down because of the design, size, scale, height, proportions, plot sizes and building layout of the new homes.

The planning inspector, who visited the site on February 20, said the outdoor amenity space and light were insufficient and the rear gardens were too small.

“In order to accommodate four dwellings on the size of site proposed, the footprint of each dwelling occupies a significant proportion of the overall plot, with very little outdoor space left over.

“The overall site constraints have resulted in tight spacing and relatively tall buildings. Owing to the scale of the proposed dwellings and the short length of the gardens, shadow would be cast over the exterior spaces for much of the day.

“The proposed gardens would also function as storage areas for bins and recycling boxes, while the two end gardens would be partly bounded by an access route to the central two gardens.

“I consider that the rear space would function more like a yard than a garden, with a frontage dominated by off-street parking, and that the overall provision would be a meagre and inadequate provision for both use and enjoyment.

“I therefore consider that the quality of the exterior space would not just be small but also oppressive and uninviting, which would fail to provide an acceptable standard of outdoor provision for future occupants.”