Swansea property extension to be demolished following Planning Inspector’s ruling

A FIRST-FLOOR extension at a house in Swansea will have to be taken down because it doesn’t have planning permission and restricts the outlook for neighbours, a planning inspector has said.

Richard Jenkins said the extension had replaced a balcony area on top of an existing single-storey extension at the rear of 3 Victoria Street, Uplands.

The Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector said the unauthorised extension “materially increases the tunnelling effect” for adjacent properties, creating “significant overbearing impacts”.

Mr Jenkins noted that the extension arguably improved privacy for the two neighbouring houses because it had replaced the balcony area.

He also said one of the neighbours had not objected to the extension but added they were a relative of the appellant, Swansea businessman Noah Redfern, and the lack of an objection was not a sound reason for granting planning permission.

Mr Jenkins said he had “fully considered” Mr Redfern’s written submissions, but concluded the appeal should be dismissed.

The appeal was against a Swansea Council enforcement notice from May this year, which required the first-floor extension to be taken down.

This enforcement followed on from a decision by Swansea Council to turn down a retrospective application to retain the development.

Council planning officers, in determining the retrospective application, said the extension “constitutes an adverse impact on visual and residential amenity”. They then began enforcement proceedings.

In his application to the council, Mr Redfern said among other things that he had used Siberian larch and Welsh slate for the first-floor extension, that it was far more attractive than the balcony it replaced, and he was under the impression it was permitted development.

He now has three months to comply with the inspector’s decision. He declined to comment when approached by the Local Democracy Reporter Service.