A householder faces the prospect of having to demolish a wall put up without permission, and a number of applications have aged off recently.

ABBEY MEADS: The owner of 10 Colman Park, Mr Iyer, who put up a 1.85 metre-high wall around his property may have to remove it.

He applied for retrospective planning permission but despite there being no objections from the parish council or neighbours, planners at Swindon Borough Council refused the proposal.

The report said the tall wall was out of keeping with the character of the neighbourhood: “This established character and visually pleasing vista is created by a collection of green spaces. Together the hedges, trees, grass along the road with the hedges, grass and flowers running along the side of houses, all collectively contribute to this green sense of place.

“The proposed boundary wall, which extends right up to the footpath edged erodes and competes with this character and this sense of place.

“It is poor design that fails to respond to the character and quality of an area. In harming the open space by enclosing it entirely, the proposal looks to dismantle the existing character within the street scene.”

MOREDON: A plan to build a house in the grounds of an exisiting semi-detached property has been turned down by planners.

The proposal by a Mr Rehnsi would have seen a three-bed house built in line with 13 Pembroke Garden, and a new porch built on the existing house.

While planners had no objection to the porch they turned down the application because: “The proposed detached dwelling would result in a cramped form of built development that would not be in-keeping with the local context, by building within a wide gap between semi-detached properties - a plot arrangement that is replicated at regular intervals along the street-scene in Pembroke Gardens.

“In addition, the detached and narrow profile of the proposed dwelling and its small rear garden would be in contrast to, and out-of-keeping with, the linear built form of semi-detached dwellings and their long rear gardens in Pembroke Gardens.

“The sub-division of the existing residential plot to incorporate the proposed detached dwelling would compromise the existing private garden layout for the existing dwelling at 13 Pembroke Gardens.”

APPLICATIONS FINALLY DISPOSED OF: There have been a number of planning applications  ‘finally disposed of’. These tend to be applications where progress stalled or stopped halfway through the process and were not continued, and after some time the borough council deems them closed.

Such proposals finally closed recently include...

- A proposal to change the layout of the 61 flats already permitted for the conversion of the office block Wiltshire Court in Farnsby Street in the town centre.

- The addition of a takeaway facility to the Swandown hotel in Victoria Road in Old Town. The owner already had permission to  use some of the hotel for a restaurant, and had proposed an amendment.

- A proposal to convert a barn at Chiseldon farm in Chiseldon to offices.

- The conversion of the basement to Redlands in Charlotte Mews in Old Town to an open-plan flat.

- A plan to alter the frontage, including adding a porch to the Masonic Hall, The Plank’s, Old Town.

EXTENSIONS: Applications have been submitted to build extensions to houses, or outbuildings or to convert lofts and garages into habitable rooms at 8 Mildmay Close, Grange Park; 7 Buscort Close, Redhouse; 30 Euclid Street, Central; 10 Queens Road, Hannington; west Bungalow, Cobden road, Ferndale; 56 Purton Road, Moredon and 13 Redcap Gardens, Ramleaze.

Such applications have been approved for 55 Furze Close, Peatmoor; 13 Badgers Close, Wanborough; 32 Rackham Close, Tadpole Garden Village; 11 Maidstone Road, Old Town, 29 Rackham Close; 37 Dores Road, Upper Stratton and 5 Bedford Street, Wroughton.