Proposals to demolish a bungalow and build four houses have been rejected, but an appeal for a previous application has been granted.

Plans from developer Edit Residential of four two-storey high four-bedroom homes were refused by Three Rivers District Council on October 23 after neighbours claimed the new homes would tower over other houses in Lower Road, Chorleywood.

Following the decision, the Planning Inspectorate has allowed an appeal on a proposal which was previously rejected in April to build seven two-bed apartments.

The consent is subject to conditions including details of construction traffic and parking, requirements of energy saving photovoltaic panels and the respect and privacy of neighbours.

Watford Observer:

A back garden of a home in Lower Road. (Picture: Joseph Reaidi)

Currently the bungalow is built behind some back gardens in Lower Road and is hidden behind a row of trees and greenery, making it difficult to see the building.

Consequently, the council concluded that the refused plans had no system to care for the surrounding trees if they were to fall of ill-health or die. It was said that the houses would then become “dominant” and “unneighbourly”.

Watford Observer:

The existing bungalow. (Picture: Joseph Reaidi)

The first proposal for nine apartments – eight two-bed flats and one three-bed flat - was rejected by the council in February 2019. A second proposal for seven two-bed apartments was then refused in April, which was then appealed and allowed by the Planning Inspectorate.