A family was informed that they do not have to tear down their garage in the center of a neighborhood spit.
Wirral Councils said they have never seen an application because they were “bombed” with information and claims by “cowboy builders”.
Michael Gould applied for a partially retrospective building permit to tear down his back double garage and replace it with a new garage, a garden room, a toilet, a hobby room and a new storage.
An earlier application for 16 Mountwood Road in Prenton had been approved, but after changes were made during the building, the new garage had to return to the Wirral Council for examination.
The application went to the planning committee of the local authority on August 14 for opposition by 15 people in the region, the Mountwood Conservation Society and the Prenton City Councilor Naomi Graham. The committee heard that the garage was longer than originally approved, but this was at the front, not on the back.
Mr. Gould said he moved into the house with his wife and family about 11 years ago, but it had not seen any significant investments for 30 years. He said they restored property and tried to preserve their legacy.
When building the garage, he said that her original contractor had unfortunately died, but the replacement “did not follow exactly”.
When the enforcement of the council questioned the amount, Gould said that they accepted the mistake, stopped the work and reduced the amount of the building.
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In response to a question from Cllr Paul Stuart, Mr. Gould said: “The cowboy building contractor we got made a lot of mistakes.” He also said that due to other problems you would have to lose a large part of the garage.
He said that none of the windows overblocked gardens and the garage would not be used independently of the house. He asked the city councilors to “finish this matter and end the restoration of our house in order to meet an area that we are proud”.
One of the controversial problems in the center of the application was the loss of four trees, including two in the garden of a neighbor, probably as a result of the build.
The city councils unanimously approved the application, but signed a legal agreement that five trees are planted in the area in three months and one should be planted on the property.
The city councils criticized the loss of the trees, but the chairman Cllr Stuart Kelly said: “We are where we are and we have to make the best of it. These trees are gone and they are not revived.” He argued that the changes to the front of the garage made a marginal difference.
However, the plans confronted strong opposition. Alex Williams, who represented her, could not provide any further evidence to support his objection because he had not submitted it in time.
Cllr Stuart said they were “flooded with e -mails” and added: “I have never had an application in which we were bombed with so much information after the publication of a report. I only find it from both sides, I find it completely inappropriate to do that.”
Those who have opposition claimed they had the support of two experts on this matter. However, the committee confirmed that they had never visited property.
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Mr. Williams said “The increased orientation and the poor design of the structure, as we would say, are pushy to the character of the nature reserve.”
He proposed to override the planning rules through private interests and accused the development of causing “irreversible environmental damage”. He asked the advice to take enforcement measures.
The city councils also approved an application for the construction of six houses in the former Jackson's furniture store in Seacombe. The plans were approved last year, but were recorded in the possession of the council members because of a dispute over an alley, a situation that Cllr Kelly described “a lack of merged thinking” as “absolutely shameful”.
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