Plans to demolish derelict dog kennels near Oswestry to make way for holiday lets have been thrown out after Shropshire Council said the scheme was of “insufficient quality”.
A total of four holiday lets would have been built at the former kennels at Wootton, around two miles south-east of Oswestry, according to plans lodged in August.
In a supporting statement, applicant Ms Annie Slater said the business would be a family run enterprise which would support the local economy in north Shropshire.
But planners at Shropshire Council said the scheme “would not equate to high quality visitor accommodation in terms of visual appearance and design” and said the four units which would have sat within a single chalet-style building would represent unsustainable development in open countryside.
“Currently the derelict dog kennels offer very little in visual, the buildings are of old fabric and windows / doors are in disrepair,” said the statement from the applicant.
“The proposed holiday lets will improve the visual impact and lift the whole area. Being single storey and a flat roof, the building will have minimal impact on the neighbouring houses, in fact it will improve the outlook for them.
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“With demand for tourism in the area high we feel that these lets will provide good, quality accommodation for people outside of the area to stay and enjoy the countryside and the local area.”
Council planning policy limits development in open countryside and green belt locations, but allows for holiday accommodation to be developed to sustain rural communities where it is judged to be “high quality” and within reach of “services and facilities which enhance the role of Shropshire as a tourist destination to stay.”
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But the council’s planning offers said the 30 square metre floor space of the proposed units would be too small, falling short of the standard UK caravan length, with the layout of the joined units also limiting natural daylight.
“The building would not be considered to be a heritage asset worthy of conversion, the kennels are dilapidated and in a state of dis-repair so it is argued that any development would equate to a new build within the countryside,” said the officers report.
“The proposal would also not be considered diversification of an existing rural enterprise.
“It is also considered that the proposal would not equate to high quality visitor accommodation in terms of visual appearance and design.
“While the conversion of this building for visitor accommodation may bring some small economic benefit to the applicant, there would be very little wider community benefit in the local area. The land does not fall within any identified settlement development boundary and sits instead within a rural countryside location with limited infrastructure to support the holiday accommodation enterprise.”
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