COUNCIL planners have had to scurry to shield ‘horrified’ neighbours after not spotting plans for a new roof terrace two years ago.
The ‘modern’ home overlooking London Road in Worcester was approved in 2020 but a new application with a number of changes, including a new staircase to a proposed roof terrace, was put forward earlier this year.
Worcester City Council admitted it had all but approved the roof terrace in 2020, despite it not being ‘explicitly’ labelled as one in the application, and it was now trying to protect the privacy of neighbours by asking for six-foot privacy screens and frosted windows.
Cllr Pat Agar, who was chairing the meeting of the planning committee which backed the changes to the plan on Thursday (November 24), said the council was having to rush to protect the privacy of neighbours after failing to spot two years ago that the roof of the home off the very narrow Cromwell Crescent Lane could, and probably would, be used as a terrace.
“What we’re trying to do essentially is mitigate against the harm we have already caused by not spotting what they might do with the roof,” she said.
Cllr Louis Stephen, who represents the Battenhall ward, said the changes had “filled everyone with horror” and it was “another example of a difficult planning application that just about squeaks through and the developer comes back for a second bite of the cherry.”
Cllr Stephen, who was part of the planning committee as a substitute but left the room after speaking and did not vote, said the original application was “bitterly opposed” by locals and while the changes “might only seem small” – allowing a roof terrace “fundamentally” changed what had been approved before as he, and the neighbours, had been under the impression that it would not be used in that way.
Worcester City Council approved an application for a Nick Carroll-designed ‘modern’ home in 2020 and with the majority of the home built, developer Lilly Pad then went back to the council with a fresh application to make a number of changes including new wooden cladding and different windows but also a new staircase to access the home’s roof terrace.
